That brings our regional live coverage to an end after a night of high drama - and the political jigsaw left well and truly rearranged.

As widely predicted, the red wall that famously came crashing down in 2019 has been rebuilt and largely returned to Labour, with the Conservatives reeling from a historic defeat.

It's been a night of moments. George Galloway was beaten by Labour in Rochdale and an independent candidate who tapped into local residents' anger about the war in Gaza claimed victory over Labour in Blackburn.

In Merseyside, Southport has a Labour MP for the first time since the constituency was created in the 1880s.

Going forward, the BBC's coverage will of course continue through the day and you can follow all the action and reaction on the main politics live page.

If you’re just waking up, spare a thought for those of us with bleary eyes who’ve got through the night powered by adrenaline, cheap energy drinks and pizza.

As has been clear since the moment the exit poll dropped last night, it’s an enormous thumping victory for Labour - it seems Sir Keir Starmer's cautious, steady approach has paid off, with his clarion call to leave "circus" politics behind.

Across north-west England there has been precious little respite for the Conservatives on a dismal night.

No Conservative MPs in Merseyside. No Conservative MPs in Greater Manchester. And Fylde the solitary island of blue in a sea of red in Lancashire.

The red tide didn’t quite wash over Cheshire - Esther McVey managed to hold her Tatton seat with a dramatically reduced majority - but there were stinging losses in Warrington South and Macclesfield, which has been a Tory stronghold since 1918.

Even the deepest pessimist would struggle to argue this is anything other than a spectacular night for Labour.

But beyond the headline victory, there are some pointers to potentially troubled waters ahead. In Blackburn, the shock victory of independent pro-Gaza candidate Adnan Hussain is an example of the party’s struggles in areas with a strong Muslim population.

And across the map, the surge in votes for Reform will need careful consideration for party strategists. In seat after seat the insurgent party pushed the Conservative candidates into third place.

With the Tories consigned to electoral limbo, Reform’s crosshairs will undoubtedly settle on Labour as the governing party.

Whether the new-look, changed Labour party can hold firm and maintain its discipline against the ferocious scrutiny to come could be the story of the next five years.

Josh Simons, a former think tank director for Labour, has become the MP for Makerfield in Wigan, winning 45% of the vote for the party.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives saw their share of the vote fall by 23%, finishing third, while Reform saw a surge in support to finish in second place.

In keeping with much of the national trend - another seat Labour lost to the Conservatives in 2019 has returned to the party after Kirith Entwistle topped the poll with 16,166 votes to reclaim Bolton North East.

Ms Entwistle won 37.3% of the vote, with the Conservatives in second with 9,513 votes, narrowly ahead of Reform with 9,428.

Labour has taken Warrington South from the Conservatives - a seat that once again has proved something of a bellwether seat, mirroring the wider national picture.

Sarah Hall beat Conservative incumbent Andy Carter, over-turning his 2019 majority of 2,000.

This time around Ms Hall took 23,201 votes to Mr Carter’s 11,861. Janet Balfe of Reform came in third with 7,913.

Warrington North was held by Charlotte Nichols with a slightly increased vote share and 18,730 votes.

That was despite a strong showing from Trevor Nicholls of Reform, who took 9,540 votes, beating the Conservative candidate Yasmin Al-Atroshi into second place.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy has won more than 19,000 votes to hold her seat in Wigan, with a slightly higher share of the vote than in 2019.

Her total was more than 10,000 votes higher than Reform, which had more than 9,000 votes, about double that of the Conservative Party candidate.

Image source, PA Media

Esther McVey has been re-elected in the traditionally safe Conservative seat of Tatton in Cheshire... but had her majority slashed to little more than 1,000.

Labour achieved a 16.3% swing from the Tories, who were also harmed by a surge in support for Reform UK, whose candidate Oliver Speakman secured 5,948 votes.

The Labour Mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett, has spoken to BBC Radio Manchester about the prospect of a landslide Labour victory.

He said Salford - the 18th poorest authority in the UK - had suffered during 14 years of Conservative rule at Wesminster.

Mr Dennett claimed the Tories had “decimated local government in my city”.

When asked about what the first thing he’d like a Labour government to influence in Salford, he replied: “My priority continues to be what I’ve been campaign for since day one really, tackling the housing and homelessness crisis."

Cabinet minister Esther McVey has arrived for her count at Macclesfield Leisure Centre, where we are awaiting the results not only from her Tatton constituency but also Macclesfield.

They have traditionally been safe Tory seats, but Labour supporters are dreaming of success in both.

From the press gallery, our Cheshire political reporter Kaleigh Watterson says she has a good vantage point over the count, including the boxes where the counted votes are being placed

She says it is looking very close in Tatton, although in Macclesfield it looks like Labour have pulled ahead.

There are still plenty more votes left to count here, though.

Yasmin Qureshi has been re-elected for Labour, this time in the new constituency of Bolton South and Walkden.

Her share of the vote fell 15% from 2019 though as Reform UK's Julie Pattison secured a 16.5% swing from Labour.

Jack Khan of the Workers Party of Britain came third on a disastrous night for the Tories, whose candidate Mohammed Afzal was beaten into fourth place.

A 16.2% swing from the Conservatives sees Labour’s Phil Brickell take back Bolton West, a seat they lost to the Tories in 2015.

The former Manchester City Councillor won 17,363 votes, unseating Conservative Chris Green who got 12,418 votes, who lost more than 10,000 votes from his 28,197 total in 2019.

Reform finished in third with 8,517.

The Liberal Democrats have taken Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester following a collapse of the Tory vote.

Lisa Smart won with 17,328 votes, ahead of Claire Vibert for Labour on 10,828.

Conservative Paul Athans came third with 9,011 - for context, the Tories secured 22,994 votes at the last general election in 2019.

The swing from Conservative to Lib Dems was 13.2%, while it was 16.6% from the Tories to Labour.