Voters in Labour’s industrial heartlands have said they voted pragmatically for Brexit and against Jeremy Corbyn as they ditched a decades-long political allegiance across large parts of northern England and Wales.

As the scale of Labour’s historic defeat became clear, the electorate in many of the once-loyal seats reacted unsentimentally to the size of the party’s defeat.

On a bitingly cold day in the former mining and shipping town of Blyth, on the Northumberland coast, care worker Alex Wright said he was not surprised Blyth Valley had elected a Conservative MP for the first time in its 69-year history.

“It was obvious, way’aye. You couldn’t win an election with Corbyn in charge. Not a hope in hell mate,” he said. Wright, 56, said he chose not to vote because his dad “would be turning in his grave if I voted for Corbyn”.

Selling £9 army fatigues on his market stall in Blyth town centre, Colin Spottiswoode, 67, said he was a lifelong Labour voter but voted blue because of Brexit. Asked if ditching Labour was a difficult decision, he said: “Not really. The majority voted to get out and the politicians haven’t sorted it and now they’re getting their just deserts.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jack Walker: ‘It shows what a good job Mr Corbyn’s done.’ Photograph: Richard Saker/The Observer

Market stall holder Jack Walker, 75, said it was the beginning of the end of Labour in places like Blyth, where the party has haemorrhaged its 18,000-strong majority since Tony Blair was elected in 1997. “A lot of it’s Brexit,” he said. “Who would believe that the Conservatives would be in power in Blyth? It shows what a good job Mr Corbyn’s done.”

In Doncaster, voters elected a Conservative MP for the first time in nearly a century as Caroline Flint became one of Labour’s most high-profile casualties. Both seats, although 130 miles apart, are symptomatic of the political tumult that cost Labour votes in working-class leave-voting areas.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Labour’s Caroline Flint, beaten by the Conservative’s Nick Fletcher. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

In Conisbrough, a hilly Doncaster town within the Don Valley constituency, residents who switched from red to blue said their decision came down to a pragmatic choice on Brexit and the Labour leadership. “I don’t see it as a vote for the Conservatives, I see it as a vote for Brexit,” said one retired lady shopping on the high street.

“It’s the first time I’ve done it. My dad was a miner, and his dad was a miner, and I’ve always voted Labour,” she added. “I think if there had been another leader, I would have voted for them again.” Asked what it was in particular that she disliked about Corbyn, she replied: “There’s something about his mannerisms.”

Back in Blyth, veteran Labour councillors said they had never seen such anger on the doorsteps. Deidre Campbell, the wife of the long-serving Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell who stood down for health reasons at this election, said Labour had been “at war with the people over Brexit”.

“I went to houses where there was poverty but they were going to vote Tory. It was like they were on some kind of drug. I’ve known for a couple of weeks it wasn’t good for Labour,” she said.

Fears of increased immigration and a push to “get Brexit done” led to two spectacular Conservative wins in West Bromwich.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ex-Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images

In what became one of the most intriguing battles in the country, Labour lost both seats in the area to the Tories.

In West Bromwich East, Nicola Richards took the seat previously held by Labour’s former deputy leader Tom Watson for 18 years, overturning a majority of 7,713 and replacing it with a Tory majority of 1,593. Labour had held the seat since it was created in 1974. The Conservatives also scored a significant success in West Bromwich West when their candidate, Shaun Bailey, overturned a Labour majority of 4,460 and turned it into a Conservative majority of 3,799.

In the early hours of Friday morning, market traders setting up in the town centre high street had mixed reactions to the result.

Father-of-four Nasir Ahmed, who has traded on his clothes stall in the area for 25 years, voted Labour but said he had anticipated a defeat.

“I have never been happy with some of the stuff that Boris comes out with and I voted to remain in the EU referendum but I did feel that this might happen. A lot of people here blame others for their problems – it’s a really deprived area and they think it’s all the fault of the immigrants – so they really want Brexit. I feel down this morning; we have made a terrible mistake,” said Ahmed.

However, on the fruit stall next door there was cause for celebration. Eugene Koziol, 77, originally from Poland, and his son Darren, who was born in the UK, voted Conservative.

“Most people here voted to leave and for the Conservatives because immigration is out of control. This is a really underprivileged area, one of the poorest boroughs in the whole of England, and there are lots of issues and people feel immigration has been one of the causes of that,” said Koziol.

He added: “People also couldn’t vote for someone like Corbyn because his policies were like a fairy story and people have got so fed up with Brexit and they just want it done.”

During the 2016 EU referendum, 68.67% voted in favour of leaving the EU in West Bromwich East.