General Election 2019 – results night live

Live reporting by Ellie Pipe, Caitlin Bowring and Joanna Booth

4am
So all four Bristol constituencies have remained red. Thank you for following our live coverage tonight. Happy Christmas!

3.55am
Thangam Debbonaire: “I will do my best to deliver to the people what they voted for.”

3.52am
Thangam Debbonaire holds Bristol West for Labour

Thangam Debbonaire, Labour 47,028
Carla Denyer, Green: 18,809
Suria Aujla, Conservative: 8,822
Neil Hipkiss, Brexit: 869

3.41am
Kerry McCarthy: “Really decent people have lost their seat today. It’s very sad. People on the doorsteps said they were fed up with politics and weren’t understanding Brexit. It wasn’t easy.”

Kerry McCarthy has retained her seat of Bristol East

3.32am
Kerry McCarthy has held Bristol East for Labour

Kerry McCarthy, Labour: 27,717
Sarah Codling, Conservatives: 16,923
Nicholas Combes, Lib Dem: 3,527
Conan Connolly, Green: 2,106
Tim Page, Brexit: 1,881

3.29am
Darren Jones: “I am grateful for each and every one of you who voted for me.”

3.26am
Darren Jones has held Bristol North West for Labour.

Darren Jones, Labour: 27,330
Mark Weston, Conservative: 21,638
Chris Coleman, Lib Dem: 4,940
Heather Mack, Green: 1,977

3.10am
Karin Smyth: “I will continue to work hard on behalf of everyone in Bristol South.”

3.07am
Bristol South result: Labour hold

Andrew Brown, Lib Dem: 4,227
Robert de Vito Boutin, Brexit Party: 2,323
Tony Dyer, Green Party: 2,713
Richard Morgan, Conservative 18,036
Karin Smyth, Labour: 27,895

Turnout: 65.9%

2.56am
Declaration expected soon in Bristol South.

Counting in Bristol South

2.45am
Has Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris got an idea for a new play?

2.17am
Official turnouts for Bristol’s four constituencies:

2.14am
Bristol West Green Party challenger Carla Denyer is still positive. “The poll says at the moment that the Greens are only going to have one seat and the polls are quite good at getting an overall picture but they’re not always that reliable seat by seat,”she told Bristol24/7.

“Also I think a lot of the polls that have come out before this one didn’t capture the effects of the unite to remain agreement as much as we’re seeing on the ground. So we’ll wait and see but I think it might still be in reach.”

Carla Denyer speaks to the media at the Bristol West count

2.09am
Bristol West turnout has been confirmed as 76.5 per cent and Bristol East turnout has been confirmed as 70.8 per cent.

2.02am
“Bristol is a little island of political hope, certainly in the way I would define hope, in terms of Labour leadership,” Bristol mayor Marvin Rees told Bristol24/7.

Responding to the impact that a big Conservative General Election win could have on the 2020 mayoral elections, Rees said he “doesn’t know” but “it could be that people in the city say we are different here”.

He added: “So let’s hold onto that and not get sucked into the vortex as (the Conservatives) drive through policies that I think would not support the environment or the majority of people in our society.”

Rees hopes that Bristol continues to represent a unique set of values and says that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn still has his full support.

Marvin Rees and his cabinet colleagues Craig Cheney and Asher Craig sign in to Action Indoor Sports in Whitchurch

1.53am
65.9 per cent turnout in Bristol South, compared to 66 per cent in 2017 and 62 per cent in 2015.

1.46am
Bristol author Nikesh Shukla reacts to the night so far.

https://twitter.com/nikeshshukla/status/1205302832901083139

1.23am
Lib Dem supporters keep an eye on the latest goings-on across the UK from the Bristol North West count.

The Lib Dems won 5.2% of the vote in Bristol North West in 2017

1.02am
The provisional turnout for Bristol North West is 73.4 per cent. It was 72 per cent in 2017 and 69 per cent in 2015.

12.56am
A deflated bouncy castle sits in an area next to the cafe at Action Indoor Sports. There’s a metaphor there somewhere…

Action Indoor Sports in Whitchurch is where the Bristol South count is taking place

12.44am
Verification is still taking place ward-by-ward in Henbury Leisure Centre for the Bristol North West constituency.

The exit poll says that the result in Bristol North West is too close to call

12.34am
Four wards have now finished the verification stage and are now starting counting votes in Bristol South.

12.31am
The Conservative Party have held Swindon North with a majority of 16,171 (59 per cent of the vote) on a 67 per cent turnout and 7.1 per cent swing from Labour to the Conservatives.

12.23am
Bristol South Lib Dem candidate Andrew Brown says: “It look like the Lib Dems have been squeezed and the country has been screwed. It’s only a poll and they have been wrong before but it’s not a good start to the night.”

Andrew Brown moved to Bristol in 2010 and has lived in the Totterdown and Knowle

12.16am
Labour supporters have brought cake to the crucial Bristol North West count.

Daniella Astudillo (right) says he is still feeling hopeful

12.09am
Meanwhile, at the Marble Factory, Idles were among the bands raising money for Bristol’s homeless charities on Thursday evening – with Banksy even designing a commemorative Christmas jumper.

11.56pm
More from Tory mayoral challenger Samuel Williams: “It is going to be a very interesting night but if it looks anything like the poll suggests we are going to see a strong mandate for the Conservatives to lead our fantastic country into a strong and flourishing future.”

Former cabinet member Claire Hiscott (right) and Tory mayoral challenger Samuel Williams at the Bristol North West count

11.52pm
Incumbent Bristol North West MP Darren Jones tweets: “I’ve no idea whether I will hold Bristol North West tonight but I’m grateful to live in a democracy and I’m super proud of my team, my volunteers, my constituents and my city. I’ve had so many kind supporters and so many hard working volunteers. I’m disappointed that my party failed to win the trust of so many voters but I’m not going to start the blame game. The bottom line is that a political party exists to win elections, in order to change the country. We have to be honest about why we lost and be better.”

11.47pm
Local democracy reporter Adam Postans brings us the scoops from across the border:

11.30pm
Verification is underway for all of the wards in Bristol North West.

11.26pm
The first result of the evening has been declared as Labour hold Newcastle Central.

11.19pm
Broken down seat-by-seat, the exit poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, ITV News and Sky News, indicates that Bristol North West is too close to call, with Bristol’s other three constituencies set to be held by Labour.

11.14pm
Bristol’s youth council are following proceedings at City Academy.

How are they feeling after the exit poll?

Dan McTiernan, 17, chair of the Youth Council, wearing a red pro-Labour. hoodie, said: “Well I’ll be the first to say I’m feeling morbid.”

Alice Towle, 15, added: “I’m not shocked but I thought it would be closer.”

11.08pm
Incumbent Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy has arrived at the count, sporting her trademark red faux fur coat.

11.02pm
Heather Mack, Green Party candidate in Bristol North West, who also ran the Bristol West campaign, says: “We are sad to see this predicted result for the progressive parties. Now more than ever we need a radical green vote.”

Heather Mack was given a criminal record for taking part in an Extinction Rebellion protest that ground London to a halt in April

10.51pm
Paula Surridge, political sociologist at the University of Bristol, said: “Having staked everything on this election as the last chance to stop Brexit, the ‘remain’ side seem to have lost again.

“The exit poll suggests that Boris Johnson will be returning to parliament with enough of a majority to push through his preferred form of Brexit by the end of January.

“Although it is likely that the combined share of the vote for ‘remain’ parties is higher than that of the leave options, this will be small comfort, though will no doubt fuel continued anger.

“Recriminations on the remain side will be bitter and long-lasting but ultimately this election showed how the leave vote was united while the remain vote argued as much with each other as with the other side.”

10.44pm
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees is at City Academy supporting his Labour colleagues Thangam Debbonaire and Kerry McCarthy.

Marvin Rees at the City Academy count

10.38pm
The Brexit Party candidate in Bristol South is disbelieving that his party will get no seats. “It doesn’t reflect what we’ve seen,” says Robert de Vito Boutin.

10.31pm
This is the scene inside the count at City Academy:

City Academy hosts the count for both Bristol West and Bristol East

10.29pm
“I just hope it’s wrong, it’s depressing” says Bristol South Green Party candidate Tony Dyer about the exit poll.

10.21pm
The first boxes arrive at City Academy, where the counts for Bristol West and Bristol East are taking place.

10.15pm
The first ballot box has arrived at Henbury Leisure Centre, where the count in Bristol North West is now officially underway.

10.06pm
Bristol’s Tory mayoral candidate for 2020 is pleased:

10pm
The official exit poll is predicting a Conservative majority of 86, with the Tories on 368 seats, Labour on 191 and the Lib Dems on 13.

9.53pm
Labour supporters at Action Indoor Sports in Whitchurch seem confident, according to our reporter on the scene.

Action Indoor Sports is where the votes for Bristol South are being counted

9.36pm
Here are the latest odds from William Hill:

• Conservative majority: 4/11
• No overall majority: 9/4
• Labour majority: 16/1
• Liberal Democrat majority: 250/1

9.30pm
Welcome to this evening’s Bristol24/7 live blog, covering all the twists and turns of the General Election 2019 results from Bristol’s four constituencies. We have reporters at all four counts across the city ready to bring us the latest news from when polling stations close at 10pm.