A geographically large seat, this takes in coastal resorts and the sparsely-populated Romney Marsh, with some ballot boxes having long journeys back to the count.

Held by former Home Secretary and Conservative party leader Michael Howard between 1983 and 2005, Damian Collins is defending a majority of nearly 15,500.

A crowded field of eight candidates includes former UKIP leader Henry Bolton, who quit to form his own party, One Nation.

He decided to stand as an independent in Folkestone and Hythe when the Brexit Party stood down its candidates from Conservative-held seats.

A safe Conservative seat, Chris Grayling has a majority of nearly 20,500.

The former transport secretary, justice secretary and leader of the Commons has been Epsom and Ewell MP since 2001.

The constituency voted narrowly to stay in the EU in the 2016 referendum, by 52.2% to 47.8%.

For many years the seat of Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative minister who is now a Brexit Party MEP, this constituency has been blue since 1906.

Going back even further, future Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli first entered Parliament as MP for Maidstone in 1837, before moving to Shrewsbury in 1841.

Its modern incumbent, Helen Grant, became the first black female Conservative MP in 2010, and has held jobs as sports minister and party vice-chair, before quitting the latter to support Dominic Raab in the leadership contest.

This time around she is defending a majority of 17,723.

Adrian Harms
Reporter, BBC Sussex

There are plenty of media waiting for the Foreign Secretary to speak at the Esher count, while the body language of the Liberal Democrats suggests they haven’t done enough to take the seat.

However, they are confident Dominic Raab’s majority will be considerably less than the 23,000 he achieved in 2017.

There will be another new face in Parliament for voters here, with their sitting MP Sam Gyimah defecting from both the Conservative party and the constituency.

After three terms as MP for Surrey East, the former investment banker quit the Conservatives after losing the whip, when he voted with 20 other colleagues to vote against the government over Brexit.

He subsequently joined the Liberal Democrats and is now standing for that party in Kensington.

His would-be replacement in Horley, Caterham and the surrounding countryside is Claire Coutinho, another former banker who has also worked as an adviser to the Treasury, and who will be hoping to capitalise on her predecessor’s majority of almost 24,000.

With a council that’s evenly split between Labour and the Conservatives, this is one of the South East’s most marginal seats.

Currently in blue hands, the former leader of West Sussex County Council Henry Smith won at his third tilt in 2010.

Hoping to turn Crawley red is the current leader of Crawley Borough Council Peter Lamb, who took the helm at the authority in 2014 at the age of just 27.

Lynda Hardy
Reporter, BBC South East Today

Charlie Elphicke has arrived at the count in Dover where his wife, Natalie, is standing in his place.

She was selected to run for the Conservatives after her husband lost the Tory whip.

Geographically the largest of the three Medway seats, Rochester and Strood was held by Labour between 1997 and 2010, when Mark Reckless took it back for the Conservatives.

In 2014 it became the second seat in the House of Commons to be held by UKIP when Mr Reckless defected, before being won back for the Conservatives again by Kelly Tolhurst.

During his time as Mayor of London Boris Johnson took a particular interest in part of the constituency, earmarking the Isle of Grain and Hoo Peninsula as the site for his proposed Thames Hub airport, an alternative to the expansion of Heathrow.

As with all the Medway seats, the estimated time of declaration here is 04:00 GMT.

Gillian Keegan, the first woman to represent this constituency, is defending a majority of nearly 23,000.

Chichester has returned Conservative MPs since 1924, so if anything else is announced at about 03:00 GMT, it will be a major shock.

Not that the Conservatives will be taking anything for granted, of course – in May’s local elections the party lost 21 seats, and its majority, on Chichester District Council, with the Liberal Democrats the biggest benefactors.

Peter Stewart
BBC Online

The Epsom count is happening in a room decked out for Christmas parties, complete with tree, dance floor and red and white drapes and streamers.

The colours are no indication of the likely outcome: Epsom and Ewell is a Conservative stronghold with a majority of 34%.

Despite residents here voting 48% to 52% to stay in Europe, it looks likely to stay in the hands of one-time Justice and Transport minister Chris Grayling come the anticipated declaration at around 04:30.

Brexit is the most prominent issue in this election and could be decisive in this Conservative commuter belt seat.

In the 2016 referendum 58.4% of voters here wanted to remain.

Their MP is former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, who quit that post in protest at Theresa May’s initial deal, saying it had “fatal flaws”.

Mr Raab, who is defending a majority of over 23,000, put himself forward as leader when Mrs May quit, and was subsequently made Foreign Secretary by Boris Johnson.

Image source, PA Media

Charlotte Wright
Reporter, BBC South East

The Conservatives here in Lewes have said they are feeling “comfortable not confident”.

They tell me so far it looks like the Conservatives have held their own in areas where they weren’t expecting to do as well.

Labour have said that from the looks of things so far it will be a Tory hold - but the Lib Dems tell me they think it will be much closer than is being predicted.

Amanda Akass
Reporter, BBC South East Today

The final ballot box has only just arrived to be verified at the Horntye Sports Park in Hastings so the count is already running slightly behind.

Despite the polls suggesting there’s a 94% chance the Conservatives will hold on to the seat, the Labour campaign seem quietly optimistic and the candidate - Hastings council leader Peter Chowney - says he’s had an excellent response from voters today.

The Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Perry also told me he believes Labour have won here, bucking the national trend.

Conservative candidate Sally-Ann Hart has not yet arrived but there is a big group of Tory activists.

Julia Abbott, BBC Surrey

We have a winner in the biggest rosette competition!

Andrew Jones, election agent for Labour candidate Tim Corry, says he knows they don't stand a chance in this part of the country, but they have to stand to support people who otherwise wouldn't have a voice.

One of Brighton’s two Labour MPs, Peter Kyle, is defending a majority of nearly 19,000.

He, and the rest of us, should find out the result at about 05:00.

Mr Kyle has been a critic of his leader Jeremy Corbyn and has faced deselection threats from within his own party.

Yetunde Yusuf
Political reporter, BBC Radio Kent

Here in Tunbridge Wells one of the candidates has already arrived, that’s the Independent candidate Christopher Camp.

He said he doesn’t think he’ll win - and if he doesn’t then he’s backing the Conservative candidate Greg Clark.

Mr Camp told me he thinks the Conservatives are the best option when it comes to Brexit but he says he doesn’t like the deal that’s on the table - he wants a clean break.

Other news around Kent - Sevenoaks is likely to declare two hours earlier than expected, at 02:00 instead of the predicted 04:00 GMT.

One of the three seats which make up the Medway conurbation all held by Labour during the Brown/Blair years, Rehman Chisti has maintained majorities of around 10,000 for the Conservatives since 2010.

It’s an area which strongly supported leave in the referendum, to the tune of 63.6%.

A result is expected about 04:00 GMT.

Lauren Moss
Political editor, BBC South East

There is a flurry of activity in West Gate Hall in Canterbury as the last of the ballot boxes has been brought in and the verification process is underway.

The aroma of coffee is filling the air as everyone is preparing for a long night ahead, the results here aren’t expected until 03:00 or 04:00 GMT.

In 2017, this seat returned one of the big surprises of the general election when Labour took the seat from the Conservatives for the first time in its history. Rosie Duffield won by a margin of 187 votes.

She is defending that slender majority tonight but the exit polls suggests it could be another tight contest.

Anna Firth is standing for the Conservatives, Claire Malcomson for the Liberal Democrats and Michael Gould is an independent.