General Election 2019: 10 key moments to watch out for as Tory target seats will be among FIRST to declare tonight
ALL eyes will be on these ten key Tory target seats tonight - but could they change the course of the election?
The results of the first big three Labour marginals should be in by 2am — giving an indication as to who might be walking into No10 if they turn blue. Here's the run-through for the night.
Other key seats include Battersea, which was won by Labour in 2017 (at 2am).
Esher and Walton, where Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is holding off a Lib Dem fight and Belfast North, where DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds is fighting off Sinn Féin, after other remain parties pulled out.
Guide to the night
10pm: The broadcasters’ exit poll is released after the polling booths close.
11pm: First seat due to declare, with Houghton and Sunderland South battling it out with Newcastle upon Tyne Central to be the earliest. Bridget Phillipson holds a majority of 12,341 in the safe Labour seat of Houghton and Sunderland South. But any change in their majority could indicate how Corbyn's party will fare on a national scale.
Midnight: Other North East seats Newcastle upon Tyne East, Newcastle upon Tyne North and Sunderland Central are all set to declare. These are all unlikely to go for the Tories — but if they pick up votes, it could be an indicator. Sunderland's 61 per cent Leave vote in 2016 showed the campaign had worked even better than expected.
1am: Will Workington Man turn Tory? The Cumbrian constituency is often touted as a bell-wether for elections. But the stereotype of its typical voter being an older, Brexit-backing, working-class man who votes Tory is perceived as outdated. Labour's Sue Hayman will be looking to increase her 3,925 majority, after winning a tight 51.1 per cent of the vote in 2017.
In Broxbourne, Anna Soubry increased her majority in 2017 as a Conservative but is now standing as an independent- where she is set to lose.
North Down is also due to declare at around this time - with DUP set to take the seat after Sylvia Hermon said she was standing down.
1.30am: Top target seat Darlington will also announce. Will the Tories breach the "red wall" of Labour voting in the North? If the Tories overturned the 3,280 majority, the night would be looking very good for them indeed.
The Tories will also be looking to take votes off Labour in the West Midlands, including Nuneaton in the West Midlands.
2am: Results will start picking up now, with three more Tory targets to declare — while Putney and Battersea will also give an indication as to how they are doing in London.
How Labour's Marsha de Cordova fares will be one of the first indicators of how the parties are performing in the capital. Lab will be looking to increase its vote in this Remain seat.
2.30am: Former Labour strongholds in Scotland, such as Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South, will give an idea of how much Jeremy Corbyn’s party and the Conservatives have been damaged by the SNP.
3am: Results for five more key Conservative targets — along with Tony Blair’s former seat Sedgefield. The Tories will be jumping for joy if they take that. Mr Corbyn’s safe Islington North also expected to announce.
4am: More Tory targets set to declare. If they don’t take Crewe and Nantwich, they won’t be having a good night. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s North East Somerset should declare a winner. Labour have piled the pressure on to unseat him.
4.30am: Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip South is expected to declare.
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5am - Result due in Labour stronghold Bolsover — with veteran Dennis Skinner under threat from the Tories.
5.30am: The Tories will hope to hold Hendon.
6am: Tory bigwig Zac Goldsmith will learn his fate as Richmond Park declares. It is a top Lib Dem target.
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