LABOUR candidate Samantha Brown has won the Leigh West by-election.

The vote was called after the death of the former council leader Lord Peter Smith, who was a Labour councillor in Leigh for 43 years, during the summer.

The candidates in Thursday's vote were Samantha Brown (Labour), James Geddes (Conservative), Jayson Hargreaves (Independent) and Sharron Honey (Liberal Democrats).

The results were announced at Leigh town hall overnight.

Turnout was 16 per cent.

The number of votes received by each candidate were:

Labour: 1,004

Conservative: 432

Independent: 257

Liberal Democrats: 103