Relief for Labour after it wins its so-called 'safe seat' in Oldham by-election

Labour's candidate for the Oldham West and Royton seat just won a crucial by-election - and party leader Jeremy Corbyn is hailing it as a victory.

Jim McMahon claimed a massive 62% of the vote share, which is actually higher than that at the general election.

McMahon also secured a 10,835 majority from UKIP's John Bickley, who was tipped as Labour's strongest contender for the so-called Labour "safe seat" which the leftwing party has held for the last 45 years.

The by-election was triggered after long-serving Labour MP Michael Meacher died earlier this year. In May's general election, he won the seat by 14,000 more votes than UKIP's candidate.

This means today's total majority is lower this time around. However, Labour did secure a higher vote shares as the voting turnout was lower than that in May - which came in at the 40% mark.

However Corbyn said the result was a "vote of confidence" in his party:

"By-elections can be difficult for the party holding the seat, and turnouts are often low. But to increase our share of the vote since the general election is a vote of confidence in our party.

"It's a clear demonstration that Labour is the party working people trust."

This is exactly what Corbyn and the Labour needed after a disastrous couple of weeks, culminating in Wednesday night's vote to bomb Islamic State in Syria.

Corbyn was locked in a fight with his own party over the vote for several weeks. A committed pacifist, Corbyn initially wanted to force his MPs to vote against extending the RAF's bombing campaign against ISIS from Iraq to Syria. He had to back down as it became clear that many in his shadow cabinet wouldn't vote with him, and trying to dictate how they voted would lead to mass resignations and more party chaos.

Many have questioned his ability to remain as a leader of a party that seems increasingly fractured.