Race hots up over first to declare election result

Newcastle City Council has heavily revised its expected declaration time, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service

The race over who may declare the first general election result appears to be hotting up once again.

North East ballot counters have long been known as the country's quickest, with Sunderland taking the title between 1992 and 2015, before rivals Newcastle beat them in the last two.

The expectation had been Newcastle was out of the picture, but all that changed on Thursday when anticipated declaration times were heavily revised.

Tynemouth in North Tyneside has also been tipped as one to watch, with the Blyth and Ashington seat in Northumberland identified as a potential frontrunner, alongside Houghton and Sunderland South.

Newcastle’s first declaration times in 2017 and 2019 came in within 90 minutes of polls closing, at 23:01 BST and 23:27 respectively.

Officials initially said they were not expecting to declare the winner of the Newcastle Central and West seat until about 01:15 on Friday.

However, a revised estimate by civic centre bosses predicts a result at about midnight, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Revised timings

The Labour-led city council insists it is not trying to declare first and that accuracy is the priority.

A high postal vote return so far was said to be the reason behind the revision, meaning counting can start as the ballot boxes arrive to the count venue.

In Sunderland, the LDRS understands the Houghton and Sunderland South constituency could be called about 23:30 - the same estimate given for the Blyth and Ashington seat.

It is also known that top election administrator Bill Crawford, who led Sunderland’s rapid counts for years and masterminded Newcastle’s success, will be on hand in Blyth on Thursday.

Sources have told the LDRS that Tynemouth is another constituency where a result could come in before midnight.

North Tyneside’s counters were the first in the region to finalise their results in the recent mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Although Gateshead Central and Whickham is officially predicted to declare at 02:00, the constituency has also been mentioned as an outside possibility.

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