Bethan Nimmo
Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

High Sheriff of Oxfordshire James Macnamara has arrived at Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury, in traditional dress.

He's technically the returning officer - in charge of the election process - across the whole of Oxfordshire.

He says though that in reality, the job of returning officer is done by others. Here, the chief executive of Cherwell District Council, Gordon Stewart, is in charge.

But even though his role is ceremonial, the High Sheriff is certainly the only person at the count carrying a sword.

He said: "That was part of the kit that a gentleman would have carried everywhere. I won't be using it."

On his duties this evening, he added: "I'll be reading out the results and that is the beginning and end of my role."

Layla Moran is expected to win Oxford West and Abingdon for the Lib Dems, which she has held since 2017.

Asked by the BBC's Jerome Sale if her party's campaigning has been "frivolous", she said: "I think the results in part speak for themselves.

"We don't get the same coverage as everyone else and also we knew if we wanted to grab headlines we needed to be quite tongue in cheek about it.

"But [leader Ed Davey] was very clear: whilst he does not take himself very seriously, he takes the concerns of voters very seriously."

Image source, Getty Images

Turnout for the Witney seat fell from the previous general election in 2019.

The BBC's Chris McHugh has been told that 67.8% of the electorate voted on Thursday.

That was down from 73.1% in 2019 and 73% in 2017.

Green candidate for the Bicester and Woodstock seat Ian Middleton tells Bethan Nimmo he is tired because he was campaigning in Bristol Central for Carla Denyer, his party's co-leader, on Thursday.

He said: "I thought it was better for me to put our resources and my experience as a door knocker and a campaigner into one of our target seats and that's pretty much the plan for the Green Party nationally: we're targeting constituencies to increase our share in Westminster."

Mr Middleton is an Oxfordshire county and Cherwell district councillor for Kidlington.

Olivia Wilson
Oxfordshire political reporter, BBC News

The count is finally underway at Oxford Town Hall for the Oxford East constituency.

I feel like I’m playing an election game of Where’s Wally? trying to spot some of the candidates here.

There’s a lot of red, including Susan Brown, Labour leader of Oxford City Council. I’ve also spotted Labour councillor Anna Railton as well

But there have been Green rosettes, Lib Dems' too.

Meanwhile, in Abingdon as votes continue to be counted, the BBC's Jem Westgate's come across Liberal Democrat activist and keen gardener Rob Jones.

He has brought some dahlias from his garden to use in place of a rosette.

Martin Eastaugh
BBC News, Oxfordshire

Verification is almost complete at all three counts at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre in Abingdon.

Votes from Didcot and Wantage, Henley and Thame and Oxford West and Abingdon constituencies will be counted this morning.

Counting is about to start for the Didcot and Wantage constituency, although the verification process hasn't entirely finished.

According to Chris McHugh, who's at the Witney count for BBC Oxfordshire, Labour members are gleefully playing Conservative Wipeout Bingo.

Candidates and members have been told to say nothing to the media until the result is declared in West Oxfordshire but they seem to be happy sharing that.

"They're sticking little red pieces of masking tape as each Conservative seat falls," Chris said.

"Even though Labour probably aren't in with a chance of winning this constituency, they're certainly having fun with it."

The seat looks to be a straight fight between Robert Courts, who has been its Conservative MP since 2016, and Lib Dem challenger Charlie Maynard.

Bethan Nimmo
Political reporter, Oxfordshire

All the ballot boxes have now arrived at Spiceball Leisure Centre.

But there's a long process still ongoing before we get a result here. Verification is taking place - where an overall tally of the number of votes is taken and turnout is determined. After that, the full count gets underway.

This is the first time that two counts have taken place here - and therefore it's very hard to know when we will get a result.

When the results do come, they're likely to be very interesting. The exit poll suggests that the "safe" Conservative seat of Banbury could turn red.

That would be a huge result for Labour - and they'd unseat the Conservative government's Attorney General, Victoria Prentis (pictured).

The new seat of Bicester & Woodstock is set to be declared further on into the night.

That's also an extremely close contest - billed by some as a three-way split between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labour. Certainly too close to call.

Image source, UK Parliament

David Hingley, the Lib Dem leader of Cherwell District Council since May, where he leads a Lib Dem-Green coalition, is waiting for results for the Bicester and Woodstock and Banbury seats.

The Liberal Democrats' Calum Miller or Conservative Rupert Harrison are likely to be elected in Bicester and Woodstock, a newly formed constituency.

"We're very excited, we don't know what's going to happen," Mr Hingley said.

"I don't think [voting Lib Dem] is a protest vote any more. I think people are seeing very good candidates at a local and at a national level - and I think people are responding positively to candidates in that way."

Olivia Wilson
Political reporter, Oxfordshire

As soon as I stepped foot into Oxford Town Hall, there was a buzz about the building: the sound of animated and, perhaps, nervous chatter as counters waited for the first round of ballot boxes to arrive.

There are tables lined up neatly around the hall, almost framing it. If you've been to the town hall, you'll know it is quite an impressive building, with beautiful chandeliers and and a remarkable arch ceiling. Arguably, this is quite an appropriate room for what promises to be a historic night.

There are 12 candidates fighting for the Oxford East seat, which has most recently been held by Labour's Anneliese Dodds, the chair of Labour Party and former shadow chancellor - the first woman to hold this position.

Polling strongly suggests that this will remain a Labour safe seat, but that doesn't necessarily mean this night will be dull for Oxford East, if anything, this means any potential shake up could create shock waves in this very grand looking building.

Matthew Barber, the Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), has been talking to BBC Radio Oxford’s Jerome Sale.

He was re-elected as the Conservative PCC in May but only beat Labour by about 2,300 votes.

"It's still an absolute trouncing. Friends and colleagues have done a fantastic job locally but nationally there probably isn't any great surprise.

"I think this goes beyond the campaign. If you look at the opinion polls, we've been behind since 2021 so this shouldn't come as a huge shock to anybody. And of course politics is cyclical and to some extent there's some inevitability to that cycle.

"Any honest analysis of where [the Conservatives] are says we need to develop some pragmatic policies that really address the issues."

Bethan Nimmo
Political reporter, Oxfordshire

Ballot boxes have been arriving at Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury.

I can hear probably one of my favourite sounds in the world - the flutter of ballot papers being counted.

The rows of counters sat at the trestle tables in front of me are going to be a part of what experts are now fairly confidently predicting will be an historic night.

I think we're in for a long wait here for the results here. But when they come they are set to be fascinating.

Can Victoria Prentis - the Attorney General in the Conservative government - hold on to her seat in Banbury? If it goes to Labour - and it could - that will be the first time in more than 100 years that anybody but a Tory has held the seat. Labour has never held it before.

Then there's Bicester & Woodstock. A new constituency - so already hard to predict.

But also such a close contest here, particularly between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems that it really is too close to call. Expect possible recounts and definite drama here in the early hours of the morning.

Voting has been taking place throughout the day across the UK in the 2024 general election.

Join us after midnight BST for coverage of all the results and reaction across Oxfordshire.

BBC South will have reporters at the counts and you can follow all the election developments as they happen here on the BBC News website and app.