Election night takeaways: Speedy counts and new names
Sunderland hopes it will announce the first vote of the night, after it lost its title to Newcastle in 2017
- Published
It promises to be an exciting night at general election counts across the North East and Cumbria. We will bring you the latest up-to-date results during the early hours of Friday - in what is set to be a long and gripping night. Here are seven things to look out for.
Speedy counts, nimble fingers
For a quarter of a century, Sunderland’s uncanny ability to count the vote at record speed was the stuff of legend.
They delivered the first result of the night at six successive general elections. No election night programme was complete without teams of youngsters running with ballot boxes through a leisure centre.
When David Dimbleby had the least to say and a yawning chasm of empty airtime on BBC One in which to say it, nothing was more welcome than those early results from the podium on Wearside and the election night drama they provided.
The race to announce the first vote is competitive in Tyne and Wear
Then in 2017, Sunderland were beaten at their own game by neighbouring Newcastle, who pulled off the same achievement again in 2019, securing the first result of the general election.
Coming in a respectable third place that year was Blyth Valley, which also produced one of the most memorable moments of the night when Conservative Ian Levy unexpectedly won the formerly safe Labour seat.
North East councils are adamant they are not engaged in a race. But they do appear to have nimble fingers and good adding-up skills.
New names, new places
Changes to the parliamentary boundaries mean some familiar constituencies have disappeared and have been replaced by new ones.
So say goodbye to old favourites like Blyth Valley, Wansbeck and Sedgefield, and a big hello to Cramlington and Killingworth, and Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor.
Also making its debut is North Northumberland which includes much of the former Berwick seat.
In Cumbria, one seat has disappeared completely and two rugby league rivals in Whitehaven and Workington will now share an MP.
There’s also a new Penrith and Solway seat made up of dismembered parts of four previous constituencies.
As for Blyth Valley, which made all those headlines in 2019, it too has been torn in half and split between Blyth and Ashington and the newly-created Cramlington and Killingworth.
Ministers present - and future?
If you want to spot some famous faces on election night, there are a handful of well-known candidates fighting seats in the region.
Easy to spot in the crowd will be Sir Simon Clarke, Britain's second tallest MP. He served in both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss' cabinets, but more recently called for Rishi Sunak to be ousted as Conservative leader. He will be hoping to keep his own job as MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.
Look out for Bridget Phillipson who will be Labour’s education secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet if the party wins power. She’s standing in Houghton and Sunderland South.
The Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young is hoping to retain his seat in Redcar. While Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is minister for the Indo-Pacific and has represented Berwick since 2015 is standing in North Northumberland.
Less well known but a significant player behind the scenes is the Labour candidate for Tynemouth, Sir Alan Campbell. He has been Labour’s chief whip since 2021 and will have an important role if the party wins power.
Bridget Phillipson, Jacob Young, Sir Alan Campbell, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Tim Farron, Sir Simon Clarke (from top left to bottom right)
As for the Liberal Democrats, their former leader Tim Farron will be hoping to keep his seat in Westmorland and Lonsdale, which he has represented since 2005.
One person you definitely will not see in the North East is the Conservative Party chairman, Richard Holden. His North West Durham seat has disappeared, so he will be 300 miles (483km) away contesting Basildon and Billericay in Essex.
Whatever the outcome there will be plenty of new faces heading to Parliament after the retirement of several North East MPs - including Stockton North’s Alex Cunningham, Sunderland’s Julie Elliott, North Durham’s Kevan Jones, Gateshead’s Ian Mearns and Dehenna Davison in Bishop Auckland.
Red wall, blue wall
It is probably one of the most overused phrases in the political lexicon, but expect to hear a lot more on election night about key seats that changed hands so spectacularly in 2019 when Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won a string of previously rock-solid Labour constituencies.
Places like Blyth, Sedgefield - once the seat of a certain Tony Blair - Darlington, Stockton South, Redcar, North West Durham and Workington were so important in that Tory victory that Boris Johnson headed straight to Sedgefield the morning after winning power to celebrate.
Political commentators will be watching closely what colour previously-held seats will turn
It is hard to overstate how dramatic those wins were in a region where Labour had ruled the roost for generations.
When David Cameron took office in 2010, the Tories had just two seats in the North East. Under Boris Johnson they won 10 - and added another in the Hartlepool by-election in 2021.
The so-called "red wall" in Labour’s heartlands had well and truly changed colour - as commentators relentlessly pointed out.
Labour’s job under Sir Keir Starmer has been to turn them red again.
Multiple counts, one location
It is going to be a busy night at Blyth Sports Centre as no fewer than four separate Northumberland counts are taking place there.
Those doing the counting - as well as enthusiastic party supporters and bleary-eyed journalists - will also be in for a long night at Spennymoor where they are counting three County Durham seats.
Expect plenty of photographs of dogs at polling stations on Thursday, like this political pup in South Shields
At Consett Leisure Centre, it is Blaydon and Consett, Easington and North Durham.
There are three counts in Sunderland and in Newcastle too.
But multiple counts of neighbouring constituencies doesn’t always happen. The count for Penrith and Solway is in Workington but the Whitehaven and Workington count is in Whitehaven. Go figure.
It's not just blue and red
Of course, this is not only a Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat battle.
The Greens have enjoyed significant success in recent local elections in places like South Tyneside and Darlington, and will be hoping to make an impact.
Then there is Reform UK. Party leader Nigel Farage told a rally near Sunderland they were now in second place to Labour in the North East - and Reform will be hoping that prediction is reflected in the results.
One poll suggested they could even win the Washington and Gateshead South seat, but all others to date have not predicted any gains.
Polls are open between 07:00 and 22:00 BST on Thursday
Outside the main parties, look out for the Social Democrats, the Workers Party, the Party of Women, Transform, the Heritage Party, and the North East Party.
Not forgetting Save Us Now, who are standing in Gateshead Central and Whickham.
How late it was
While Sunderland and Newcastle may have cornered the market in early declarations, you may be in for a longer wait for results in parts of Teesside.
So spare a thought for the good folk counting ballot papers at Thornaby pavilion in Stockton, where the results in the Stockton North and Stockton West seats are not expected until 04:00 BST.
We will be bringing you all of the action as it happens on the night.
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