Tim Farron has thanked members and supporters  for their hard work in the Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland by-elections. In an email tonight, he said:

The polls are now closed for by-elections in both Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland.

Members from all over Britain have volunteered, donated and cheered on these two upstart campaigns and I’m so grateful for everything that you’ve done.

We can be proud of the campaigns that Rebecca Hanson in Copeland and Dr Zulfiqar Ali in Stoke-on-Trent have fought – right up to their work today getting our vote out in storm force wind and rain.

In the face of strong opposition, they have stood up for our values and fought for every single vote; we couldn’t have asked any more of them.

We always knew that both of these by-elections would be tough; in Stoke we started from 5th place and in both Copeland and Stoke we lost our deposit in 2015. The Conservatives, Labour and UKIP have all thrown the kitchen sink at these by-elections.

Whatever happens tonight, I’m proud of the effort we’ve put in. We are still in prime position to become Britain’s largest progressive party and to lead the opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government.

Thank you again – for everything you’ve done.