Independent Shockat Adam says "this is for Gaza" as he wins Leicester South from Labour's Jonathan Ashworth in surprise victory
Shivani Raja wins in Leicester East for the Tories
Labour hold Leicester West and gain Loughborough and North West Leicestershire
Conservatives hold Hinckley and Bosworth, South Leicestershire and Harborough, Oadby and Wigston
The newly drawn-up seats of Melton and Syston, Mid Leicestershire, and Rutland and Stamford are won by the Tories
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
Quite the night indeed.
And with that, we are bringing our live coverage to a close.
Thank you to everyone who followed this page - you can keep up to date with the latest goings-on from around the UK here.
Tim Parker
BBC Radio Leicester reporter
Leicester doing things differently on general election night isn't new.
Look how Labour has held on in all three city seats over the past few elections, regardless of the national result.
But this time round, there really has been some shift.
Yes, voters wanted the change demanded elsewhere. But where to turn when the party offering change was already in charge?
It was local characters promising to deliver on what local people cared about, that cut through.
Leicester South saw the independent Shockat Adam Patel gain a 979-vote majority over Labour's high-profile candidate Jonathan Ashworth – who was surely destined for a cabinet role in Keir Starmer's new government.
And while Conservative candidates took defeat after defeat elsewhere, Leicester East said yes to the local Tory candidate. She offered change, and clean break from the previous two Labour MPs – both of whom contested the seat this time. The Labour candidate this time was more than 4,000 votes behind Shivani Raja.
And the man promising the biggest comeback, former MP Keith Vaz, couldn't even face the line-up on the stage as the declaration was made.
Quite a night.
Will Jefford
BBC East Midlands
Independent Shockat Adam has hailed his "community campaign" for providing one of the biggest shocks of the election.
He beat senior Labour politician Jonathan Ashworth by fewer than 1,000 votes.
Mr Ashworth, who had held the seat since 2011, had a majority of 22,675 in 2019.
During his winning speech, Mr Adam said: "This was a grassroots, community, constituency-run campaign, which is an indication to those that have been in power for so long that you cannot forget the people that you serve."
Mr Ashworth said it had been "the greatest honour and privilege of my life" serving Leicester South for 13 years.
Now that Labour's passed the key 326 Westminster seats needed to run the country – and outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has conceded defeat – what can we expect now?
Will Jefford
BBC East Midlands
Peter Bedford, the new Conservative MP for Mid Leicestershire, said the Tory party needed to "look at regrouping".
He said he was feeling very tired, but very happy.
"It was a very long day, a very long campaign," he said.
"I was selected 10 months ago, so I've been knocking on doors for a very long time."
He admitted it was a difficult night for the Conservative Party nationally.
"Being in office for 14 years has taken its toll in terms of members of the public, and we will now have to look at regrouping," he said.
Mr Bedford won the seat ahead of Labour's Robert Martin by just over 2,000 votes.
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
On X, Conservative Neil O'Brien said, external: "Delighted and honoured to be re-elected as MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston.
"Less delighted to realise we have been up all night and that the kids are off to school in two hours."
Best of luck, Neil...
Will Jefford
BBC East Midlands
Speaking to BBC Radio Leicester, Alberto Costa - MP for South Leicestershire - has said he could run for Tory leadership if it is right for his constituents.
"I've just been re-elected and I promise the people of South Leicestershire this, I will ensure that the Conservative Party reflects and goes forward in the right direction and if that means I stand for leadership, I will do so," he said.
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
For the new readers to our live coverage - where have you been?!
While you're waking up to a Labour government heading for a landslide victory, in Leicestershire and Rutland, the picture has been decidedly more mixed.
Here's a round-up of what's happened:
Conservative Peter Bedford is the first MP to represent the new constituency of Mid Leicestershire, winning 17,735 votes.
He won a 2,000 majority over Labour candidate Robert Martin.
Will Jefford
BBC East Midlands
The new Labour MP for Loughborough, Jeevun Sandher, said he had worked for 571 days in a bid to help "achieve the change that we seek".
"We've now crossed the threshold into government," he said.
"There's a huge amount we have to do at this difficult time.
"In 2019 we had our worst defeat in a century, and now is the point where we can help change people's lives."
Meanwhile, Conservative Jane Hunt, who had been in Parliament for five years, said she was sad at the result, and that she had "absolutely loved being the member of Parliament for Loughborough".
She added the national result was "very difficult" because "a fantastic amount of experience is going out the door tonight".
Aleem Maqbool
Religion editor, BBC News
A month ago I reported on the campaign in Jonathan Ashworth’s Leicester South constituency.
The then Shadow Paymaster General had held the seat for 13 years, and even in Labour's disastrous 2019 election, he won 67% of the vote, but with about 30% of the electorate being Muslim, there was nervousness for one primary reason, Gaza.
Shockat Adam, an ophthalmologist, had been a Labour-supporting political activist but decided to stand as an independent candidate.
Angry about the number of civilians killed and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Labour's response, he said trust for Mr Ashworth had primarily been lost when the MP abstained from a Gaza ceasefire vote in November.
Mr Ashworth's explanation to me as to why he had done that was that while he supported a ceasefire in Gaza, he did not vote for the motion calling for a ceasefire because the vote would not have achieved such a ceasefire.
In truth, the fact that the order to abstain came from the top of the party would have been a big factor, though it was an order that some other Labour MPs had defied. Mr Adam said his focus was to call out Labour's and not the government's response to the conflict because it was to the Labour Party that for decades Muslim voters in Leicester had remained loyal.
Helen McCarthy
BBC Radio Leicester Reporter
Closing up shop at the Loughborough count, these signs won't be used for another few years.
A reminder that Labour secured a gain from the Tories in Loughborough, with Jeevun Sandher taking the seat from Jane Hunt by nearly 5,000 votes.
Will Jefford
BBC East Midlands
Newly-appointed Conservative MP for Melton and Syston, Edward Argar (centre), said he had worked hard to earn the trust of his constituency, 17,526 of whom voted for him.
"My team and I have worked incredibly hard since this election was called, and indeed before it, to earn the trust of the people of Melton and Syston and secure their support," he said.
"It's a trust and support you can never take for granted."
Conservative Alicia Kearns has been elected in the new seat of Rutland and Stamford, with 21,248 votes.
Ms Kearns, who won the Rutland and Melton seat in 2019, beat Labour's Joe Wood, who won 10,854 votes.
Chris Clowes came third for Reform UK with 7,008 votes.
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Let’s be clear, tonight has been an extraordinarily good night for the Labour Party. Under Keir Starmer they have won more seats than they would ever have dreamed in the aftermath of the 2019 general election.
But there is grit in the oyster. They have performed strikingly badly in seats with large numbers of Muslim voters. Labour’s vote is down on average by 10 points in seats where more than 10% of the population identify as Muslim.
That’s one reason Labour have lost Leicester East to the Conservatives and the main reason perhaps that Jonathan Ashworth, a shadow cabinet minister, lost Leicester South to an independent - so far the biggest shock of the night.
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
It may seem like a while ago now, but the Conservatives made their first gain in Leicester East.
Labour's vote there is down 29 points in a seat that was fought by the former Labour MP Keith Vaz and more than one pro-Gaza independent candidate.
This looks like a seat where Gaza has cost Labour dearly.
Former Conservative MP Jane Hunt has lost her seat in Loughborough to Labour candidate Jeevun Sandher.
Ms Hunt had a 7,000-vote majority overturned as her party faces one of their worst election nights on record.
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
You can say that again, Tim...
Liz Kendall held her Leicester West seat for the Labour Party, but the city - traditionally a Labour stronghold - has seen two big changes.
Independent candidate Shockat Adam has beaten senior Labour member Jonathan Ashworth, overturning a massive majority in Leicester South, while the Tories have gained Leicester East, which saw 10 candidates including former MPs Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe stand.
Tim Parker
BBC Radio Leicester reporter
Cheesy... but it is a new dawn for Leicester politics.
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
Well, you can find out here.
We'll be updating the key election results from across the East Midlands as we go.