30 November 2012 Last updated at 00:18 ET

Rotherham by-election: Sarah Champion holds Labour seat

Sarah Champion secured 9,866 votes - 46% of those cast

Labour has held the South Yorkshire seat of Rotherham in a parliamentary by-election with the UK Independence Party taking second place.

Sarah Champion secured the seat with 9,866 votes - 46% of those cast.

UKIP's Jane Collins came second with 4,648 votes and the British National Party's Marlene Guest came third on 1,804 votes.

The by-election was called following the resignation of the former MP Denis MacShane on 2 November.

Rotherham

• Sarah Champion (Labour) 9,866 (46.25%, +1.62%)
• Jane Collins (UKIP) 4,648 (21.79%, +15.87%)
• Marlene Guest (BNP) 1,804 (8.46%, -1.96%)
• Yvonne Ridley (Respect) 1,778 (8.34%)
• Simon Wilson (Conservative) 1,157 (5.42%, -11.32%)
• David Wildgoose (English Democrat) 703 (3.30%)
• Simon Copley (Independent) 582 (2.73%, -3.58%)
• Michael Beckett (Liberal Democrat) 451 (2.11%, -13.87%)
• Ralph Dyson (TUSC) 261 (1.22%)
• Paul Dickson (Independent) 51 (0.24%)
• Clint Bristow (Independent) 29 (0.14%)
• Labour majority 5,218 (24.46%)
• 7.13% swing Labour to UKIP
• Turnout: 21,330 (33.63%, -25.37%)

Mr MacShane stepped down after he was found to have wrongly claimed at least £7,500 in expenses. He had been MP for the town since 1994.

Labour described Ms Champion as a "clean break" candidate following the scandal surrounding Mr MacShane, and she becomes the first-ever woman MP for the seat.

Speaking after her victory, Ms Champion said: "I've never stood for election before but when I see the damage David Cameron is doing to Rotherham I cannot stand and watch.

Ms Champion, chief executive of a children's hospice, said she was not a career politician and will serve "not for what I can get out of it but what I can put into it".

Mr Farage, who was at the Rotherham count, said the result was the party's "best ever" at a by-election.

"It's big progress. It's a big night for UKIP," he added.

UKIP's campaign in Rotherham was boosted by a row over a local couple who had their foster children removed by the Labour council because they were UKIP members.

There were 11 candidates standing in the by-election and the turnout was 33.8% - down from 59% in the 2010 general election.

Labour also won by-elections in Croydon North in south London and Middlesbrough.