Baroness Foster, Northern Ireland's former first minister, has described not being able to vote in today's election as "beyond strange".

Since the 1999 House of Lords Act, members of the House of Lords have not been able to vote in parliamentary elections.

The former leader of the DUP added that she is "wishing all the candidates and importantly their families well as I know it’s tough putting yourself forward for election".

Louise Cullen
BBC NI Agriculture & Environment Correspondent

Colin McGrath's SDLP team in South Down are hopeful they will pull off "the shock of the night".

This was the second-most marginal Westminster constituency in Northern Ireland in 2019, and this year there are significant changes in parliamentary boundaries.

Will it provide as nail-biting a finish as it did in 2019?

Sinn Féin's Chris Hazzard will be hoping that there are no surprises here and he can get over the line - also keep an eye on how the Alliance Party fare here as well.

Image source, PA Media

Tim Collins concedes he hasn't polled well and believes there is a large vote share for independent unionist Alex Easton.

He believes he is third behind Easton and Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry.

"People in North Down don't want someone who doesn't live in Northern Ireland, they want a homegrown boy, they are interested in local politics, they are not interested in cutting VAT, they are not interested in international affairs - they are interested in potholes and hedges," he says.

Our reporter Elaine McGee has managed to find the youngest (and might we say) the cutest election watcher at the Meadowbank count.

Baby Donnachadh is just 11 weeks old and is here to support his mum, Alixandra Halliday, who is an Aontú candidate in Mid-Ulster.

Ashleigh Swan
BBC News NI live page reporter

Image source, Reuters

Some of you are sharing your thoughts on our political correspondent Gareth Gordon saying that the Belfast East result is like "Glastonbury for political nerds".

Nicholas Allen said on X: "The BBC said the East Belfast election was Glastonbury with better headliners, and now I’m imagining how bad that festival would be."

We think Shania Twain could give the Belfast East candidates a good run for their money.

Northern Ireland Health Minister and Ulster Unionist Party assembly member Mike Nesbitt says the exit poll makes for interesting viewing, but if Labour does become the dominant party in Westminster, as predicted, it does not change the constitutional debate around Northern Ireland "one bit".

He says he doesn't think Northern Ireland is going to "shoot to the top of the agenda" if Sir Keir Starmer is in 10 Downing Street, but he doesn't think unionism has anything to fear from a Labour government.

Ashleigh Swan
Live page reporter

One of our BBC NI team members at the titanic count has just got a bedtime reminder.

Who wants to break the bad news to her.....

The good news is, she won't be alone. Join us all night to get the latest results from across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Keiron Tourish
BBC News NI north west correspondent

Senior SDLP sources are happy with what they've seen in Foyle but believe it's unrealistic for Colum Eastwood to replicate his huge 17,110 majority of 2019.

The SDLP leader is expected in Magherafelt count centre later this evening.

The results hub is in charge of processing the results for each count centre as they come into the BBC newsroom.

Once a result is declared our team at the count centre will contact the results hub here in the office.

The results hub double check the figures then input them into our system. Once the result is submitted then it automatically feeds through to the graphics you see on the TV programme, on the live page here and the constituency result pages,

We will keep you up to date throughout the evening when the results start to come in.

Your results hub team for the night are Michael Bedwell, Adam Mandeville, Therese Hyland and Jake Liggett.

Looking at the numbers behind today's election is commentator David McCann.

He says that early figures are suggesting that turnout in working-class, unionist areas are down which aligns with trends in last year's local election and the assembly in 2022.

This will cause worry for both the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and may boost the confidence of parties such as Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP.

Mr McCann says this is also the first election in nine years in which Stormont has been restored and without a focus on key issues such as Brexit, this may cause turnout to be around 60% or lower.

This election is also taking place during the summer holidays, with more than 25,000 postal votes being issued.

However, as Mr McCann points out, not all will be returned.

Gareth Gordon
BBC News NI Political Correspondent

The general election in Northern Ireland is like Glastonbury for political nerds, but with better headliners.

Belfast East

There is a Titanic tussle between Alliance leader Naomi Long and DUP leader Gavin Robinson.

They have gone head to head before three times, with Mr Robinson coming out on top, but this time a lot of people are saying this one will be very, very, very close.

I think he has the most to lose in this one - especially after the year his party has had.

North Down

Another one to keep an eye on is how North Down plays out.

The election campaign here has been branded North Down and Dirty.

Alliance's Stephen Farry, independent unionist Alex Easton and the UUP's Tim Collins have certainly not pulled any punches or minced their words at time in this race.

This one is really hard to call at this stage and I think each candidate believes they have a really strong chance to win.

Elaine McGee
BBC News NI

Meadowbank Arena in Magherafelt is one of the biggest count centres anywhere in the UK.

The sports hall is hosting eight constituencies this evening, namely Foyle, Fermanagh South Tyrone, West Tyrone, Mid-Ulster, East Londonderry and North, South and East Antrim.

All constituencies with interesting stories to tell but two in particular could hit the headlines later.

Can Pat Cullen claim victory for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh South Tyrone - the most marginal seat in the UK?

Will former health minister Robin Swann the snatch South Antrim seat from the DUP?

Another one to watch is Foyle, where the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood is in a two-horse race with Sinn Féin's Sandra Duffy

The DUP's candidate for Lagan Valley, Jonathan Buckley has arrived at the Craigavon count centre.

The previous DUP MP in this constituency was Jeffrey Donaldson who held the seat for 27 years.

Our reporter, Richard Morgan is at that count and will keep us updated with the results as they come in.

Belfast North Alliance Party candidate Nuala McAllister says this general election campaign for her party is not just about winning seats, but building on the platform of being the third-biggest party at Stormont.

In the exit poll, Alliance's sister party, the Liberal Democratics, is projected to win about 61 seats.

Ms McAllister says this would be a remarkable result, but one that is not overly surprising.

She says her party will be seeking conversations with Sir Keir Starmer, who is set to become prime minister, to reform the way Stormont works.

Former Ulster Unionist Party leader Tom Elliott has been given a peerage in the dissolution honours list.

He was the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2015- 2017.

A dissolution honour takes place at the end of a term of Parliament.

New life members of the House of Lords – known as life peers – are appointed by the King on the advice of the prime minister.

Brendan Hughes
BBC News NI political reporter

Tom Elliott being handed a peerage gives us the first surprise of election night from a Northern Ireland perspective.

The former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader is not even on the ballot paper.

The question now is whether he will retain his elected role at Stormont while also attending the House of Lords.

A party spokesman said Mr Elliott could do both, pointing to how Democratic Unionist Party peer Lord Morrow had also been a Northern Ireland Assembly member for many years.

But the UUP said whether he did or not would be a matter to consider between him and his party leader, Doug Beattie.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill has thanked everyone who voted for Sinn Féin on the social media platform, X.

The party's deputy leader said her candidates would "continue to work for all, striving to build a brighter and better future for workers and families".

Image source, PA Media

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor

Exit polls are not always accurate, and always come with a health warning.

In previous years though, they have been pretty accurate and this one paints a remarkable picture.

These figures may change, they may not change, but this exit poll will be grim viewing for Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.

The Labour Party are predicted to double their seats from 209 to 410, while the Conservatives are predicted to lose 241 seats.

Off they go! Counting is now underway across the country. Our reporter Kevin Sharkey shared this picture at the Titanic Centre.

Elaine McGee
BBC News NI

When will we know results from the count centre in Magherafelt?

Here's some 2019 statistics from the constituencies being counted in Magherafelt to give you an idea.

West Tyrone was the first of the eight to have a result declared in 2019 at 02:19.

Fermanagh South Tyrone was the last at 06:59

It is worth bearing in mind too that the ballot boxes will have a considerable distance in some instances to travel to Magherafelt and that could impact on declaration timings.

Mid-Ulster could move quicker for example as Magherafelt is in that constituency.

The count centre covers an area that covers from the very edges of the border in Fermanagh, the Sperrins, the Glens of Antrim to the banks of the Foyle.

A long night ahead is the one thing guaranteed.