This General Election will decide who will form the central Government. But the voting arrangements, including counting the votes, is a local authority responsibility. There is the traditional rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland over who will get the first result. This time should be much the same as in 2017 so far as the schedule of declarations is concerned. No other elections are taking place and there have been no boundary changes. The counting will take place overnight – this is due to the success of the Save General Election Night Campaign, which was founded by Jonathan Isaby in 2010 when he was a Co Editor of this site. It quickly won cross Party support. An Early Day Motion was tabled. A Lib Dem ally declared:
“Election night is the nearest thing we get to a carnival of democracy in Britain.”
Some municipal bureaucrats had thought it might be more convenient to wait until the next day. But they were forced to retreat. The argument that the British tradition of political drama be maintained was won. Public confidence in the electoral process is helped by avoiding delay. It is not just the “political nerds” but millions of voters who stay up, anxiously waiting to discover the nation’s destiny. Though, of course, in 2010 we still had to wait quite a while before discovering who would form the Government…
What will become this election’s “moments”? In 1997, the Labour landslide was confirmed by the Labour gain of Birmingham Edgbaston returning Gisela Stuart as the new MP. It took quite a while before a single Tory seat was held. “The Germans have got more seats than the Tories,” joked the commentators.
In 1992, the result from Basildon told us that the Conservatives had won – despite the exit polls. We knew before the result was read out by the broad grin on David Amess’s face. The next time we got an overall Conservative majority was in 2015 – when it was Nuneaton that gave the clearest signal.
There are the moments when “big beasts” lose their seats: Michael Portillo in 1997, Ed Balls in 2015. “Did you stay up for Lembit?” we all asked each other in 2010.
It’s a pity that in recent years the results tend to read out by the Council chief executive, rather than the Mayor. Usually the acceptance speech which follows from the winning candidate is not very dramatic in content, but the emotion comes through in the tone. “I would like to thank the Returning Officer and his staff, the police….” Tony Benn would “start by thanking the chartists and the suffragettes…” The Rev Ian Paisley used to sing.
In 2001, we had the result from Hartlepool with the Labour victor, Peter Mandelson, in manic tone declaring:
“Well, they underestimated me because I am a fighter not a quitter.”
If we stayed up until 4am that night we found out that Boris Johnson was the new Tory MP for Henley. In his acceptance speech he said:
“The Conservative Party will recover. It has great powers of rejuvenation and regeneration. It’s like some gigantic… human liver, it will regenerate itself…
“Go back to your homes and prepare for breakfast.”
It took a while, but the 2005 result did show some progress. Justine Greening’s victory in Putney symbolised firm evidence of Conservative revival.
Here is the schedule of expected declaration times for results tonight, according to the Press Association. A word of caution. Even if there is a big fall in the Labour vote in Sunderland and Newcastle in those early results it does not follow that it will be replicated in the marginal seats declaring later. There is plenty of evidence to suggest a demographic trend in politics with the working class shifting away from Labour but with them picking up new support from the middle class.
Don’t even think of going to bed…
Estimated declaration times
11pm
- Houghton & Sunderland South
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Midnight
- Newcastle upon Tyne North
- Sunderland Central
- Washington & Sunderland West
0.30am
1am
- Basildon & Billericay
- Broxbourne
- Down North
- Jarrow
- Makerfield
- Middlesbrough
- Rutherglen & Hamilton West
- South Shields
- Wigan
- Workington
1.30 am
- Darlington
- Kilmarnock & Loudoun
- Nuneaton
- Swansea West
2.00 am
- Aberavon
- Arfon
- Basildon South & Thurrock East
- Battersea
- Belfast West
- Birkenhead
- Blackburn
- Blaenau Gwent
- Blaydon
- Bootle
- Bracknell
- Burnley
- Burton
- Bury North
- Bury South
- Caerphilly
- Cannock Chase
- Carlisle
- Castle Point
- Clwyd South
- Dunbartonshire West
- Dwyfor Meirionnydd
- East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow
- Folkestone & Hythe
- Fylde
- Gateshead
- Harlow
- Hartlepool
- Hertsmere
- Hull North
- Huntingdon
- Islwyn
- Kettering
- Knowsley
- Lagan Valley
- Lanark & Hamilton East
- Leicestershire North West
- Leigh
- Llanelli
- Londonderry East
- Midlothian
- Newport East
- Newport West
- Norfolk South
- Pontypridd
- Putney
- Rugby
- Runnymede & Weybridge
- Rushcliffe
- St Helens North
- St Helens South & Whiston
- Sefton Central
- Stockton North
- Stockton South
- Strangford
- Surrey East
- Swansea East
- Swindon North
- Tamworth
- Thurrock
- Tooting
- Torfaen
- Tynemouth
- Tyneside North
- Vale of Glamorgan
- Wallasey
- Warley
- Warwickshire North
- Wellingborough
- West Bromwich East
- West Bromwich West
- Wirral South
- Wirral West
- Wolverhampton North East
- Wrexham
- Wycombe
- Yeovil
2.30am
- Angus
- Barnsley Central
- Barnsley East
- Chichester
- Chorley
- Dover
- Dundee East
- Dundee West
- Epping Forest
- Falkirk
- Gainsborough
- Gower
- Harrogate & Knaresborough
- Havant
- Inverclyde
- Neath
- Paisley & Renfrewshire North
- Paisley & Renfrewshire South
- Ribble Valley
- Stratford-on-Avon
- Torbay
- Watford
3.00am
- Aberdeen North
- Aberdeen South
- Airdrie & Shotts
- Aldershot
- Aldridge-Brownhills
- Alyn & Deeside
- Amber Valley
- Antrim East
- Antrim North
- Antrim South
- Ashford
- Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock
- Ayrshire North & Arran
- Barking
- Bath
- Beaconsfield
- Bedford
- Belfast East
- Belfast North
- Belfast South
- Birmingham Edgbaston
- Birmingham Erdington
- Birmingham Ladywood
- Birmingham Northfield
- Birmingham Yardley
- Bishop Auckland
- Blackpool North & Cleveleys
- Blackpool South
- Bolton North East
- Bolton South East
- Bolton West
- Brecon & Radnorshire
- Brentwood & Ongar
- Bridgend
- Bristol East
- Bristol North West
- Bristol South
- Bristol West
- Cambridge
- Cambridgeshire North West
- Cambridgeshire South
- Cardiff Central
- Cardiff North
- Carmarthen East & Dinefwr
- Chelsea & Fulham
- Chesham & Amersham
- Chingford & Woodford Green
- Christchurch
- Cities of London & Westminster
- Clacton
- Cleethorpes
- Cotswolds, The
- Coventry North East
- Coventry North West
- Coventry South
- Crawley
- Cynon Valley
- Dagenham & Rainham
- Dartford
- Delyn
- Derbyshire South
- Devon Central
- Don Valley
- Doncaster Central
- Doncaster North
- Down South
- Dunbartonshire East
- Dunfermline & Fife West
- Durham, City of
- Durham North
- Durham North West
- Ealing Central & Acton
- Ealing North
- Ealing Southall
- Easington
- East Lothian
- Eastbourne
- Eastleigh
- Edmonton
- Epsom & Ewell0
- Erewash
- Esher & Walton
- Fareham
- Forest of Dean
- Foyle
- Garston & Halewood
- Gedling
- Glasgow Central
- Glasgow East
- Glasgow North
- Glasgow North East
- Glasgow North West
- Glasgow South
- Glasgow South West
- Glenrothes
- Gloucester
- Grantham & Stamford
- Great Grimsby
- Great Yarmouth
- Guildford
- Hammersmith
- Hemel Hempstead
- Heywood & Middleton
- High Peak
- Hornchurch & Upminster
- Hull East
- Hull West & Hessle
- Hyndburn
- Isle of Wight
- Islington North
- Islington South & Finsbury
- Kenilworth & Southam
- Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath
- Leeds East
- Leeds West
- Leicester South
- Lewisham Deptford
- Lewisham East
- Lewisham West & Penge
- Leyton & Wanstead
- Linlithgow & Falkirk East
- Liverpool Riverside
- Liverpool Walton
- Liverpool Wavertree
- Liverpool West Derby
- Livingston
- Luton North
- Luton South
- Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East
- Mitcham & Morden
- Montgomeryshire
- Na h-Eileanan an Iar
- New Forest East
- New Forest West
- Newbury
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Newton Abbot
- Norfolk North West
- Norwich North
- Norwich South
- Ochil & Perthshire South
- Ogmore
- Pendle
- Peterborough
- Preston
- Redcar
- Reigate
- Renfrewshire East
- Rhondda
- Rochdale
- Rochford & Southend East
- Romford
- Saffron Walden
- Salford & Eccles
- Sedgefield
- Sevenoaks
- Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough
- Sheffield Central
- Sheffield Hallam
- Sheffield Heeley
- Sheffield South East
- Shrewsbury & Atcham
- Sittingbourne & Sheppey
- Somerset North
- South Holland & The Deepings
- South Ribble
- Southend West
- Southport
- Stafford
- Staffordshire Moorlands
- Stevenage
- Stirling
- Stroud
- Suffolk Coastal
- Suffolk West
- Surrey Heath
- Sutton Coldfield
- Telford
- Tonbridge & Malling
- Tunbridge Wells
- Ulster Mid
- Vale of Clwyd
- Walsall North
- Walsall South
- Walthamstow
- Wealden
- Welwyn Hatfield
- Westminster North
- Weston-Super-Mare
- Wimbledon
- Wokingham
- Wolverhampton South East
- Wolverhampton South West
- Worcester
- Worsley & Eccles South
- Wrekin, The
- Wyre Forest
- Ynys Mon
3.30am
- Aberconwy
- Bexleyheath & Crayford
- Bromsgrove
- Chesterfield
- Clwyd West
- Colchester
- Devon North
- Eltham
- Greenwich & Woolwich
- Harwich & Essex North
- Hastings & Rye
- Hertford & Stortford
- Kingston & Surbiton
- Leeds Central
- Lewes
- Meriden
- Moray
- Perth & Perthshire North
- Portsmouth North
- Portsmouth South
- Solihull
- Totnes
- Westmorland & Lonsdale
- Worcestershire Mid
- Worcestershire West
4.00 am
- Altrincham & Sale West
- Aylesbury
- Ayrshire Central
- Banbury
- Bassetlaw
- Batley & Spen
- Beckenham
- Bedfordshire Mid
- Bedfordshire North East
- Bedfordshire South West
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk
- Bexhill & Battle
- Birmingham Hall Green
- Birmingham Hodge Hill
- Birmingham Perry Barr
- Birmingham Selly Oak
- Blackley & Broughton
- Boston & Skegness
- Bosworth
- Bournemouth East
- Bournemouth West
- Braintree
- Brent Central
- Brent North
- Brentford & Isleworth
- Brigg & Goole
- Bromley & Chislehurst
- Bury St Edmunds
- Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross
- Cambridgeshire North East
- Canterbury
- Cardiff South & Penarth
- Cardiff West
- Carshalton & Wallington
- Ceredigion
- Charnwood
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Chippenham
- Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill0
- Congleton
- Copeland
- Crewe & Nantwich
- Croydon Central
- Croydon North
- Croydon South
- Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East
- Daventry
- Devon South West
- Dorset Mid & Poole North
- Dudley South
- Dulwich & West Norwood
- East Ham04:00
- Ellesmere Port & Neston
- Enfield North
- Erith & Thamesmead
- Exeter
- Feltham & Heston
- Fermanagh & South Tyrone
- Fife North East
- Gosport
- Hackney North & Stoke Newington
- Hackney South & Shoreditch
- Haltemprice & Howden
- Hampshire East
- Hampshire North East
- Hampshire North West
- Harborough
- Harrow East
- Harrow West
- Hayes & Harlington
- Henley
- Hereford & Herefordshire South
- Herefordshire North
- Hertfordshire North East
- Hexham
- Hitchin & Harpenden
- Hornsey & Wood Green
- Horsham
- Huddersfield
- Ilford North
- Ilford South
- Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey
- Ipswich
- Lancashire West
- Lancaster & Fleetwood
- Leeds North West
- Leicester East
- Leicester West
- Leicestershire South
- Lichfield
- Lincoln
- Loughborough
- Louth & Horncastle
- Maidenhead
- Maldon
- Manchester Central
- Manchester Gorton
- Manchester Withington
- Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney
- Milton Keynes South
- Mole Valley
- Monmouth
- Morley & Outwood
- Motherwell & Wishaw
- Newark
- Newry & Armagh
- Norfolk North
- Norfolk South West
- Northamptonshire South
- Nottingham East
- Nottingham North
- Nottingham South
- Old Bexley & Sidcup
- Oldham East & Saddleworth
- Oldham West & Royton
- Orpington
- Oxford East
- Penistone & Stocksbridge
- Penrith & The Border
- Plymouth Moor View
- Plymouth Sutton & Devonport
- Poole
- Rayleigh & Wickford
- Reading East
- Reading West
- Redditch
- Richmond (Yorks)
- Romsey & Southampton North
- Rossendale & Darwen
- Rother Valley
- Rotherham
- Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner
- Rutland & Melton
- St Albans
- Salisbury
- Scarborough & Whitby
- Scunthorpe
- Selby & Ainsty
- Sherwood
- Shipley
- Sleaford & North Hykeham
- Slough
- Somerset North East
- Spelthorne
- Staffordshire South
- Stone
- Stourbridge
- Streatham
- Stretford & Urmston
- Suffolk Central & Ipswich North
- Suffolk South
- Surrey South West
- Sutton & Cheam
- Swindon South
- Tatton
- Taunton Deane
- Thornbury & Yate
- Tottenham
- Tyrone West
- Upper Bann
- Vauxhall
- Wakefield
- Warrington North
- Warrington South
- Warwick & Leamington
- Waveney
- Wentworth & Dearne
- West Ham
- Wiltshire North
- Wiltshire South West
- Windsor
- Witham
- Witney
- Woking
- Wyre & Preston North
- Wythenshawe & Sale East
4.30am
- Beverley & Holderness
- Bognor Regis & Littlehampton
- Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South
- Chester, City of
- Derbyshire Dales
- Dorset North
- Dorset South
- Dorset West
- Elmet & Rothwell
- Kensington
- Mansfield
- Preseli Pembrokeshire
- Uxbridge & Ruislip South
- Weaver Vale
- Yorkshire East
5.00am
- Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine
- Argyll & Bute
- Arundel & South Downs
- Ashfield
- Ashton Under Lyne
- Banff & Buchan
- Basingstoke
- Bermondsey & Old Southwark
- Bethnal Green & Bow
- Blyth Valley
- Bolsover
- Bradford East
- Bradford South
- Bradford West
- Bridgwater & Somerset West
- Broadland
- Broxtowe
- Buckingham
- Calder Valley
- Camberwell & Peckham
- Camborne & Redruth
- Cambridgeshire South East
- Cheadle
- Colne Valley
- Corby
- Denton & Reddish
- Derby North
- Derby South
- Derbyshire Mid
- Derbyshire North East
- Devon West & Torridge
- Dewsbury
- Dudley North
- Dumfries & Galloway
- Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale
- Eddisbury
- Edinburgh East
- Edinburgh North & Leith
- Edinburgh South
- Edinburgh South West
- Edinburgh West
- Enfield Southgate
- Faversham & Kent Mid
- Filton & Bradley Stoke
- Gordon
- Gravesham
- Halesowen & Rowley Regis
- Halifax
- Hampstead & Kilburn
- Hazel Grove
- Hemsworth
- Hertfordshire South West
- Holborn & St Pancras
- Keighley
- Kingswood
- Leeds North East
- Ludlow
- Macclesfield
- Maidstone & The Weald
- Meon Valley
- Milton Keynes North
- Morecambe & Lunesdale
- Norfolk Mid
- Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford
- Northampton North
- Northampton South
- Oxford West & Abingdon
- Poplar & Limehouse
- Pudsey
- Ross, Skye & Lochaber
- Shropshire North
- Somerton & Frome
- Southampton Itchen
- Stalybridge & Hyde
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent Central
- Stoke-on-Trent North
- Stoke-on-Trent South
- Tewkesbury
- Thanet North
- Thanet South
- Thirsk & Malton
- Tiverton & Honiton
- Wantage
- Winchester
- Worthing East & Shoreham
- Worthing West
- York Central
- York Outer
5.30am
- Barrow & Furness
- Chipping Barnet
- Finchley & Golders Green
- Hendon
6.00am
- Chatham & Aylesford
- Devizes
- Devon East
- Gillingham & Rainham
- Orkney & Shetland
- Richmond Park
- Rochester & Strood
- Skipton & Ripon
- Southampton Test
- Sussex Mid
- Twickenham
- Wansbeck
- Wells
7.00am
- Brighton Kemptown
- Brighton Pavilion
- Hove
- Truro & Falmouth
8.00am
9.00am
10.00am
- Cornwall North
- Cornwall South East