By Rachel Charman
4.01am: A somewhat poetic comment from Matthew Zarb-Cousin, Labour candidate for Thorpe ward, regarding Conservative council leader Nigel Holdcroft during the verification of the local ballots: “Holdcroft arched over the table like a man playing roullette with his life savings. Could be our local Portillo moment.”
3.56am: David Amess has just arrived.
3.48am: Results are expected here by 4.30am at the very latest.
3.45am: So far Essex, and in fact the East of England, has gone blue.
3.31am: Brentwood has remained in Tory hands.
3.28am: Here’s a few images whilst we wait for the result, courtesy again of Longpier.com
3.19am: A Councilbust.com reader sent us their view on the results so far: “For Sale – a Lib Dem leaders on short-term lease. All reasonable offers considered.”
3.00am: The word from the floor is that the Lib Dems could easily take West Leigh tomorrow in the locals; Conservative council leader Nigel Holdcroft has been looking worried all night. At the same time the fight for Thorpe has been close, and at the moment, it looks 50/50 between the Tories and the Independents.
2.55am: Liberal Democrat candidate for Southend West Peter Welch just arrived for the start of the count. He tells me he wishes he had knocked on more doors in West Leigh, but there is always something more you could have done.
2.40am: The counting for Southend West and Rochford and Southend East finally begins!
2.36am: Turnout was up around 4% in Southend West compared to the last general election. In Rochford and Southend East, the increase was around 3%.
2.34am: The Tories have taken Basildon South from Labour’s Angela Smith. The constituency was high on the Conservative hit list.
2.19am: Almost all of the verifying is done now. We’re just waiting for the last few tables to finish, and then the counting can begin. Count expected to start in the next half hour.
2.03am: The Conservatives have just taken Castlepoint from Bob Spink. Technically this counts as a Tory hold, as Spink was elected as a Tory and became in independent. The BNP got 2,000 votes in the ward.
1.59am: Nobody has yet spotted David Amess (Con, Southend West) or Peter Welch (Lib Dem, Southend West). Looks like they have decided to stay away until the results are announced.
1.42am: A quick national perspective: Labour so far have 22 seats, Conservatives have 9, and Liberal Democrats have 4. Prime Minister has held his seat.
1.17am: Just been up to the bar for a chat with a very jovial Barry Bolton, Green candidate for Southend West. Over a beer he laments “If only all the people who liked the sound of our ideas actually went out and voted for us.” He says the Greens have no chance in Southend West, but says that something has to be done about fossil fuels. “It’s just like a pint of beer,” he says of oil, “when it’s run out, it’s run out. Except it’s not a pint of beer; you can’t just go to the bar and get another one.”
12.50pm: Supporters and candidates have started to drift up to the bar now, as the verifying and counting process drags on. The bar is the place to be – atmosphere up there is tense and exciting. We’re heading up there to get some snaps and some interviews.
12.43pm: Southend Council’s media team says that the counters have so far validated 14 out of 47 boxes of papers; the counting hasn’t even started yet. Due to an impressive voter turnout, counting itself isn’t expected to start for at least an hour, most likely two. Across the country we’re getting stories of high voter turnout causing chaos; voters have been turned away from polling stations after queueing for over an hour, as the polling stations had to close at 10pm.
11.40pm: Here’s the first picture from the count, courtesy of Longpier.com; count staff bringing in the ballot papers by the trolley-load.
11.05pm: This just in from BBC news: David Cameron will fall 19 seats short of a Commons majority, according to a joint BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll. The Conservatives would have 307 MPs, up 97 on 2005, Labour would have 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems 59, down 3. Nationalists and others would have 29. That means Labour and the Lib Dems together could not have a majority.
10.45pm: The counters have started to verify the postal ballots. Trhe room is filling up with candidates and supporters. So far I can spot Anna Waite, Nigel Holdcroft, Graham Longley, Matthew Zarb-Cousin, and Tony Gladwin.
10.15pm: Just arrived at Garon’s Park sports centre, where the count is taking place. There are police everywhere. To get into the building I have to push through a crowd of BNP candidates in the main entrance.
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