Philip Sim
Scotland political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

There are big caveats around the exit poll, particularly when it comes to Scottish seats.

Often it has the big picture broadly right, but things get shakier when you drill down to seat-by-seat predictions.

But there are a few hours yet until we get real results, so here are some snippets…

The exit poll predicts that big SNP figures like Stephen Flynn, the party's Westminster leader, and Joanna Cherry could be on their way out.

Flynn is actually predicted to fall to the Tories - the exit poll thinks they could come through in a three-way marginal.

As well as widespread Labour gains, the exit poll actually predicts the Tories picking up five seats from the SNP - which feels somewhat out of whack with the narrative up until now.

It may be best to wait up and see the results for real.

Reform UK deputy leader David Bull has been speaking about his party's success in the vote share of the two seats that have already been announced - Houghton and Sunderland South, and Blyth and Ashington.

"This is an historic moment," he says. "I think what you're seeing is the shy 'Reformers' coming out in droves."

Bull adds that he believes pollsters have been "caught off-guard" and that it would be "extraordinary" if Reform UK wins 13 seats, as the exit poll predicts.

Reform UK has cut through, initial results suggestpublished at 23:53 British Summer Time 4 July

23:53 BST 4 July

Chris Mason
Political editor

A couple of observations from that first result in Houghton and Sunderland South.

Firstly, unlike the very careful caveating from other Labour folk, Bridget Phillipson delivered not just a local victory speech, as the first MP elected into the new parliament, but what was pretty much a national victory speech for Labour too.

And then there is the stand out set of numbers in the first two results for Reform UK - beating the Conservatives easily, in safe Labour territory.

Reform UK has cut through, the evidence suggests so far - and is a big part of the story tonight.

Becky Morton
Politics reporter

Image source, PA Media

If the exit poll is accurate, Labour is set to win a landslide with a majority of 170.

The figure is just short of the majority of 179 won by Tony Blair in 1997 – the last time a general election saw a majority over 170.

Labour went on to hold power for 13 years and in 2001 Blair was re-elected with another landslide, albeit with a slightly lower 167 seat majority.

For a bigger majority than 1997, you have to go back to 1935, when the National Government, a three-party coalition led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin, won a 242-seat majority.

Back once again to Prof Sir John Curtice, who says the most surprising figures from tonight's exit poll are for Reform UK and the SNP.

Watch more from our polling guru here:

Conservative Charles Walker, who stood down at this election, tells BBC Radio 4 and 5 Live that Reform UK's share of the vote is going to make a future leadership contest "challenging".

"It's going to be fiendishly difficult for us to come back from this position," he says.

"It's not impossible, but the Conservative Party is going to have to show a level of discipline over the next six to eight months that it's not shown over the last four or five years."

Joe McFadden
Reporting from Gedling

Hello from Gedling, in Nottinghamshire, where counting is well under way with ballot boxes arriving by the lorry-load.

Labour’s Michael Payne is battling it out with Tory incumbent Tom Randall to see who will represent the constituency going forward but, in the meantime, the press area has other things on our minds - namely the snacks.

While we wait for a result (expected at about 4am), we’ve pooled our resources to create a sizeable election-night snack pile.

Reform have beaten the Tories again in the second seat of the night - Blyth and Ashington - coming in second place with 10,857 votes.

Labour held on to the seat with 20,030 votes. The Conservatives came third with 6,121 votes.

The second result of the night is in - and Labour's Ian Lavery has won in Blyth and Ashington in Northumberland.

It's been 90 minutes since the exit poll which showed Labour is expected to win a landslide victory - meaning it's likely to win a large majority of seats in the Commons.

Since then, we've had a stream of reaction and the first result of the night. Here are the highlights so far:

• Keir Starmer wrote on social media just after the exit poll was released, thanking those who put their trust in "our changed Labour Party"
• Senior Conservative Steve Baker told the BBC he accepts the Conservative Party has lost
• Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said it looks like his party has won its best result for a generation, while the Greens asked the likely Labour government to be "bolder, braver and more ambitious"
• Meanwhile, former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said the numbers indicate "this is not a good night for the SNP"
• We've also just had our first result, with Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson winning in Houghton and Sunderland South, where Reform UK beat the Tories to second place

We'll be bringing you all the results, plus analysis and reaction throughout the night - stick with us.

More detail now on the result just declared in Houghton and Sunderland South, in the country of Tyne and Wear.

Labour’s Bridget Phillipson won with 18,847 votes and so could expect to become education secretary, having had that brief in Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet since November 2021.

In her victory speech, she says "our best days lie ahead of us", adding that Labour will be a government "of service", "with purpose", and "powered by hope".

Reform's Sam Woods-Brass beat the Tories into second place in the constituency, with 11,668 votes.

The first result of the night is in and, it goes without saying, counts are under way all across the UK and our teams are live streaming all the action.

We're poised to bring you every single result as soon as it comes in.

Follow the links on this page for live coverage of the general election results in your local area.

The first result of the night is in - and it's a win for Labour's Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, in Houghton and Sunderland South.

It's been a strong Labour seat since its creation in 2010.

Image source, PA Media

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer says her party wants Labour "to succeed in government and we want its ambitions and achievements to be bolder".

She says any Green MPs elected - and the exit polls suggest there will be two - will be tasked with pushing the Labour government to be "bolder, braver, and more ambitious" and "put new issues on the agenda".

“The tectonic political plates are shifting. In just a few hours we will be able to see how far.”

Image source, Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

The exit poll at 10pm was a big moment - the next big one will be when the first seat is declared.

Ballot counters in north-east England have long been known as the country's quickest.

The BBC's Naga Munchetty is in Blyth, where votes in four constituencies are being counted. It took a record 30 seconds for the first ballot box to come in here after polling stations closed (eight seconds faster than in 2019).

Thimbles and lightweight paper are to helping them to count like lightning.

In Sunderland - one of Blyth's main rivals - presenter Sally Nugent has been watching specially-trained ballot box runners leg it from the car park to inside the hall for the past 45 minutes. Many of the runners are local sixth form students.

We're being repeatedly reminded by counters that accuracy is of course more important than speed - the winners will be the ones with the slickest operation.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

The markets have reacted with almost complete indifference to the the exit poll.

Sterling stayed stable at $1.27 (£1) and the effective interest rates paid on UK government borrowing remained the same.

While the result is in line with a series of polls, the Labour leadership will be delighted that two years of reassuring business and the markets has resulted in barely a flicker or a murmur as they head for government.

We expect to hear from the likely chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in the next three to four hours.

Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Islington North, and Islington South and Finsbury

I'm on a balcony at a venue where we have a good view of the count floor and where two counts are taking place.

Islington North, where Jeremy Corbyn is standing as an independent candidate against the party he was once leader of.

The other is Islington South and Finsbury, a seat held by Labour’s Emily Thornberry since 2005.

We've heard from the returning officer who says that verification will take place first.

That is now under way, then the important task of counting will begin.

The counters are all dressed in black T-shirts with staff written on the back. And we’ve spotted lots of bags on sweets on tables spread around the indoor sports hall. I’m sure it won’t be long before they’re opened.

David Deans
Politics reporter, BBC Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has told BBC Wales he's lost his seat.

He's been in Parliament since 2005 and had a majority at the last election of more than 9,000. He was also the only cabinet minister with a seat in Wales.

Davies had stood for the new seat of Monmouthshire, which had slightly altered boundaries.

"On the basis of the exit poll, there isn't a chance that I'll be winning, which is disappointing," he says. "I've had great support from the local association, but the fact is, people wanted a change. That's the way it goes into democracy."

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