Sarah-May Buccieri
BBC Lincolnshire

Image source, BBC/Sarah-May Buccieri

In the West Lindsey Leisure Centre verification has officially started.

A steady string of ballot boxes continues to arrive along with eager politicians, proudly wearing rosettes.

Labour’s Jess McGuire has sat down, looking very calm with her team.

Historically, support for the Conservatives has rarely wavered here as Sir Edward Leigh has held the seat for more than 40 years.

The result is expected at around 03:00 BST so, for now, people are grabbing a coffee and starting the long wait.

Richard Madden
BBC News

One of our reporters has just described the wait for the results as the "calm before the storm". The ballot boxes have started to arrive at the various counts across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire so, hopefully, we might see some action soon.

Image source, BBC/Charlie O'Loughlin

Image source, BBC/Amanda White

Image source, BBC/Lara King

Image source, BBC/Sharon Edwards

Richard Madden
BBC News

No prizes for guessing what this post is about. Would it even be an election day without a dog at a polling station? Here are a few pictures of your furry friends taken across the region throughout the day.

Image source, BBC/Simon Weir

Image source, BBC/Charlie O'Loughlin

Image source, BBC/India Alton

Image source, BBC/James Hoggarth

Sarah Sanderson
Political Reporter East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

There are ten parliamentary seats up for grabs in the Humber region. Seven of them are currently held by the Conservatives and three by Labour.

Due to a review of parliamentary constituencies last year, seven constituencies in the region have changed names as well as boundaries. So don’t be alarmed if you see a different name for your constituency on your ballot paper.

Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes is one of those new constituencies and it will the one to watch across Northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.

It’s made up of two former constituencies, one of them being Great Grimsby which was a safe Labour seat for decades until the Conservatives took it in 2019 following the 'Get Brexit Done' campaign.

The Conservative candidate who was elected back then is standing again for election this year as is the former Labour MP who lost her seat to the Conservatives four and a half years ago.

The Conservatives here will be watching the general election results closely as they come in because back in the local elections in May, they lost control of North East Lincolnshire Council. Recently, one of their Conservative councillors defected to Reform UK and he’s now standing as their parliamentary candidate in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

The polls tell us we're heading for a Labour government but there are still many undecided voters out there, some of whom may not necessarily choose to vote for the main political parties. Regardless of what the polls tell us, it will be really interesting to see where people place their votes across northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire in this general election and, as a result, to see which way the political tide will turn for the Humber region as a whole.

Sharon Edwards
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Lincolnshire

When the prime minister called the general election six weeks ago every one of Lincolnshire’s Parliamentary seats were held by Conservatives, with majorities of more than 20,000 votes in many cases. That is not expected to be the picture after tonight. If the polls are to be believed, the momentum for change has reached even the most blue towns and villages of rural Lincolnshire.

Lincoln is an ultra-marginal seat which has switched hands repeatedly between the Conservatives and Labour over the past 30 years. Tonight Labour are confident of taking it back. That’s not all that surprising when you consider Labour’s lead in the polls during the weeks of campaigning, but elsewhere in the county the Conservatives are very nervous. Even Tory stalwarts like Sir Edward Leigh, in Gainsborough, could be facing defeat after more than 40 years in the seat, if polling is correct.

Conservative Matt Warman has had a fight on his hands to keep his Boston and Skegness seat following the announcement that Richard Tice of Reform UK was standing against him. Political consultancy Electoral Calculus has Reform to take the seat, with a 70% chance of winning. That would be hugely significant when you consider Mr Warman’s 25,621 majority and the fact that this has been considered the second safest Tory seat in the country. This would also be just seven years after the then UKIP leader, Paul Nuttall, stood there and gained just 3,308 votes – in the constituency which recorded the highest Brexit vote in the country.

Not even the rural hinterlands of Grantham and Bourne and Louth and Horncastle are safe, according to some polls. Boundary reviews have removed Stamford from Grantham and taken a lot of Conservative, and more affluent, voters with it. Last-minute polls have put Grantham and Bourne going Labour. Plus, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, who has represented Louth and Horncastle, looked under pressure when she took part in a BBC Radio Lincolnshire general election debate earlier this week.

Notwithstanding the country’s apparent zeal for change in the form of Labour, this is a county where Reform UK’s messaging on immigration and net-zero scepticism has landed on some fertile land, especially where huge solar farms and a new line of pylons are planned.

Only Sir John Hayes in South Holland and the Deepings appears the most likely to dodge defeat, but even he has had Reform UK campaigning hard in the neighbouring constituency and that carries the risk of cross-contamination.

So, if someone asks me which seats in Lincolnshire are ones to watch, the simple answer is most, if not all. After so many years of Conservative dominance here the unthinkable could be about to happen.

Richard Madden
BBC News

Votes across the region are going to decide the results of 18 seats tonight. They include a couple of new constituencies after changes from the previous election in 2019.

They are:

• Beverley and Holderness
• Boston and Skegness
• Bridlington and the Wolds
• Brigg and Immingham
• Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme
• Gainsborough
• Goole and Pocklington
• Grantham and Bourne
• Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
• Hull East
• Hull North and Cottingham
• Hull West and Haltemprice
• Lincoln
• Louth and Horncastle
• Rutland and Stamford
• Scunthorpe
• Sleaford and North Hykeham
• South Holland and The Deepings

Richard Madden
BBC News

Good evening.

The polls have just closed and the countdown to find out who the big winners and losers are in the 2024 general election is well and truly on.

We'll be keeping you up to date with the latest from the polling stations, the all-important results and reaction from around the region throughout the night.

You can also catch the coverage on BBC Radio Lincolnshire and on BBC Radio Humberside.

Voting has been taking place throughout the day across the UK in the 2024 general election. Join us after 22:00 BST for coverage of all the results and reaction across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

We 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.

You can find out more about how to follow the election on the BBC here.