Labour has comfortably held on to the Batley and Spen parliamentary seat left vacant since the killing of MP Jo Cox just days before the EU referendum.

Former Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin took 86 per cent of the vote, with the nine independent and fringe party candidates who stood against her all losing their £500 deposits.

The other main parties did not stand in a mark of respect.

The turnout of less than 26 per cent was among the lowest in a by-election since the Second World War.

In her acceptance speech, Ms Brabin - who faced a challenge from hard right candidates from both the National Front and the BNP - said her win was a victory for "hope and unity".

"This has been a difficult experience for all of us and tonight is a bittersweet occasion for me. That this by-election has had to take place at all is a tragedy," she said, amid noisy heckling from supporters from some of the rival candidates.

"I hope Jo will be proud tonight of our community. We have shown that we stand together with one voice choosing unity and hope."

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, Ms Brabin thanked Mrs Cox' widower, Brendan, and sister, Kim Leadbeater, for their support during her campaign.

She said: "I met with Brendan and Kim while I was campaigning. They were generous, warm-hearted and absolutely supportive of me carrying on Jo's legacy while also ploughing my own furrow."

The leader of Bradford's Conservative group, Councillor Simon Cooke, had spoken out against his party's decision not to stand in the by-election, saying it was bad for democracy.

But Ms Brabin said: "It's for them to decide but my own personal opinion was that I admired them. I thought it showed grace, given the circumstances - that a young mother and an extraordinary woman had been killed."

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson today met Ms Brabin in Heckmondwike to chat with voters and supporters.

Ms Brabin said some of her first priorities as MP for Batley and Spen were fighting "against the downgrade of Dewsbury hospital" and also looking at local transport problems.

The former actress, who also appeared in EastEnders and Emmerdale, said: "I also want to build on my experience in the arts and culture."

Mr Cox yesterday welcomed the far-right candidates losing their deposits due to their low number of votes.

Congratulating Ms Brabin on her victory, he tweeted: "Great to see all the purveyors of hate lose their deposits."

Earlier in the day he had urged the people of the constituency to use their votes to "show the world that hatred has no home in Batley & Spen".

Mr Cox also posted a picture of his late wife at the count on the night she was first elected in May last year, saying: "She was calm, serene and full of grace that night."

Liberal Democrat president Baroness Brinton congratulated the Labour victor, adding: "This is an election we wish had never happened and this is why the Liberal Democrats decided not to stand.

"Parliament, public life more widely and a young family were robbed of Jo Cox. She was a strong, brilliant voice for progressive politics, and we are much poorer without her."

Thomas Mair, 53, has been charged with 41-year-old Mrs Cox's murder, possession of a firearm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Meanwhile, in the Witney by-election, for David Cameron's old parliamentary seat, the Conservatives survived a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats, despite seeing their majority slashed.

Barrister Robert Courts secured the victory over Lib Dem Liz Leffman but saw Mr Cameron's majority cut from more than 25,000 at last year's general election to just 5,702.

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