REPLAY: How Nottinghamshire’s General Election results helped cause a political earthquake

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The Conservatives have won Gedling, Ashfield and Bassetlaw from Labour to help them win an overall majority in the House of Commons and begin a likely five-year Government led by Boris Johnson after an election campaign dominated by concerns over Brexit.

The shift to the right in marginal seats locally was reflected across the country – with the Conservatives winning a huge majority and Labour losing 59 seats overall.

Exit polls released at 10pm had accurately predicted a win overall for the Conservatives – and three local seats were among those that switched from Red to Blue.

See below how the results came in and how MPs and candidates reacted through the night.

Key points

  • Conservatives win Gedling, Ashfield and Bassetlaw from Labour, hold Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, Newark and Sherwood
  • Labour hold Nottingham South, Nottingham North, Nottingham East
  • Jeremy Corbyn announces he won’t lead Labour into another election
  • Boris Johnson declares victory is a mandate to take the UK out of EU
  • LIVE Notts General Election special on Notts TV tonight at 5.30pm

09:06 We’re winding down this live blog now after a hugely dramatic night in Notts and across Britain. Thanks for following. Remember at 5.30pm on Friday (December 13) there’s a live General Election results special on Notts TV. Watch via Freeview 7, Virgin 159 and TV Player app. There will be video reports from every constituency, interviews with every new Notts MP, and a look at what the result overall means for the city and county.

07:45 We also spoke to Tom Randall just before the result. He’s the new Conservative MP for Gedling and said a Conservative win overall would lead to an immediate focus on Brexit.

07:14 We can also hear a bit more from Vernon Coaker in Gedling now – who has lost his seat in Gedling after 22 years. He was beaten by Conservative Tom Randall – who we’ll also hear from shortly.

06:56 Lilian Greenwood spoke to us just after the result. She describes the overall result as ‘terrible’ for Labour and says ‘we’re going to have to do a lot better’;

06:40 Lilian Greenwood speaking after the result, to Local Democracy Reporter Kit Sandeman: “It’s been a really tough election in November and December, I’m sure everyone’s had the same experience of the horrible weather.

“You won’t surprised to hear me say while I’m absolutely delighted to be re-elected to represent our city in Parliament, tonight’s results are devastating for the Labour Party.”

06:38 Let’s go through some of those results in detail now here’s the numbers for Nottingham South

Lilian Greenwood, Labour – 26,586 – ELECTED
Barry Holliday, Liberal Democrat – 3,935
Marc Nykolyszyn, Conservative – 14,018
Cath Sunderland, Green – 1,583
John Lawson, Brexit Party – 2,012

Turnout – 60.78 percent

06:00 We’ll be bringing you more video reports shortly – starting with Nottingham North – which was defended by Alex Norris. 

05:23 Nottinghamshire results in full;

ASHFIELD – Conservative WIN – Lee Anderson 
BASSETLAW – Conservative WIN – Brendan Clarke – Smith
BROXTOWE – Conservative WIN – Darren Henry
GEDLING – Conservative WIN – Tom Randall 
MANSFIELD – Conservative WIN – Ben Bradley
NEWARK – Conservative WIN – Robert Jenrick
NOTTINGHAM NORTH – Labour WIN – Alex Norris
NOTTINGHAM EAST – Labour WIN – Nadia Whittome
NOTTINGHAM SOUTH – Labour WIN – Lilian Greenwood
RUSHCLIFFE – Conservative WIN – Ruth Edwards
SHERWOOD – Conservative WIN – Mark Spencer

04:56 As that result was coming in the Conservatives were securing an overall majority nationally – and have won the election overall. The final size of their majority is the only thing in question.

04:56 RESULT – SHERWOOD – Conservative WIN – Mark Spencer

04:53 This is one of the biggest shocks of the night in Notts, perhaps second only to Gedling. The Conservatives have won Ashfield from Labour. Lee Anderson is the new MP – here he is at the declaration.

04:44 We are just waiting official confirmation for Sherwood now, where Mark Spencer is hoping to defend for the Conservatives. It’s considered fairly safe for the Tories, that one.

04:18 RESULT – ASHFIELD – Conservative WIN – Lee Anderson 

04:10 RESULT – MANSFIELD – Conservative WIN – Ben Bradley

03:58  RESULT – BASSETLAW – Conservative WIN – Brendan Clarke – Smith

03:38 RESULT – NEWARK – Conservative WIN – Robert Jenrick

03:38 RESULT – BROXTOWE – Conservative WIN – Darren Henry 

03:18 Massive result in Gedling, where Labour’s Vernon Coaker has lost his seat. He’d been MP for Gedling since 1997.

03:17 RESULT – GEDLING – Conservative WIN – Tom Randall 

03:06 Having earlier ignored requests Conservative Darren Henry has been giving interviews.

03:00 Chris Leslie finished fourth in that seat in the end – the Conservatives came second with Victoria Stapleton a long way behind Nadia Whittome – who got 25,735 votes.

02:47 Big win for Labour in Nottingham East with Nadia Whittome in a seat where Chris Leslie left the party and mounted a vocal challenge as an independent.

02:46 RESULT – NOTTINGHAM EAST – Labour WIN – Nadia Whittome

02:40 That’s a solid defence for Labour in a seat they were never likely to lose. The way things are going, even these will be seen as important for the party.

02:43 Lilian Greenwood’s Nottingham South declaration;

02.36 RESULT – NOTTINGHAM NORTH – Labour WIN – Alex Norris

02:27 Lilian Greenwood, having just defended her seat for Labour in Nottingham South, warns tonight’s results are ‘devastating” for the party overall.

02.23 RESULT – NOTTINGHAM SOUTH – Labour WIN – Lilian Greenwood

02:19 A result is imminent – Nottingham South is coming in soon –

02:13 Really strong words from Chris Leslie at the Nottingham East count. He is standing as an independent having left Labour – and has been vocal in his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn. We’ll have video shortly.

02:01 That’s a fairly predictable result in Rushcliffe, but it will cheer the Conservatives given Ken Clarke was a staunch remainer before he was deselected. Full results for Rushcliffe put Labour a distant but respectable second, Lib Dems third.

Jason Billin – Lib Dem: 9,600

Ruth Edwards – Conservatives: 28,765

Mathhew Faithfull – UKIP: 591

John Kirby – Independent: 427

Cheryl Pidgeon – Labour: 21,122

01:56 RESULT: RUSHCLIFFE – Conservative WIN – Ruth Edwards

01:47 We are VERY close to our first Nottinghamshire result of the night. Rushcliffe is imminent!

01:28 In Broxtowe, Conservative candidate Darren Henry has arrived – but is causing some confusion among members of the media by not just refusing interviews but outright ignoring their requests.

01:34 Some more turnout results for you – in Mansfield its 64 per cent and in Broxtowe it’s a whopping 75 per cent.

01:32 Counting is winding down in Rushcliffe – a result soon seems likely. They could end up being the first in Notts to declare.

01:19 Also in Mansfield – the counting process is currently being help up because of number discrepancies. Mansfield is often a later declaration of about 4am- and this could push things back further.

00:58 In Mansfield, there is much discussion over Conservative candidate Ben Bradley’s Christmas jumper. He says the campaign locally has been good but says nationally there’s been too much focus on leaders’ personalities.

00:51 Here’s a reminder of the candidates in Gedling – where Vernon Coaker is defending the seat for Labour.

Vernon Coaker – Labour candidate

Tom Randall – Conservative and Unionist Party

Anita Prabhakar – Liberal Democrats

Jim Norris – Green Party

Graham Hunt – The Brexit Party

00:48 High turnout in Gedling – where we are being told the result is very close.

00:44 Now verification is complete we are getting turnout figures. In Nottingham – it’s down across all three city constituencies compared with 2017. Nottingham East it’s 59 per cent (2017 – 64) Nottingham North is 52 per cent (57 in 2017) and in Nottingham South 60 per cent (68 in 2017).

00:36 And some of those students in Mansfield have been talking to Conservative Ben Bradley – who’s wearing a Christmas jumper – he’s hoping to defend the seat having caused a shock in 2017 by defeating Labour’s Alan Meale.

00:31 Besides this all-nighter there’s another one happening over here run by staff and student at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at Nottingham Trent University. Shout out also to Notts TV pathway students from NTU who are working with our team tonight – Will Varney in Broxtowe, Mel Ward in Sherwood, Ellie Marie Atamena in Ashfield, Sam Leader in Newark, Saskia Hicking in Mansfield, and Niall Cowell in Nottingham.

00:23 In Sherwood that late ballot box is now in – most counts now have all ballot boxes back and verification is done in many places – so the official counting can begin.

00:10 Over in Newark Sam Leader has been speaking to the Liberal Democrat candidate David Watts. He says he expects to have increased the Lib Dem vote there, but not to have won in a seat which looks nailed-on for Conservative Robert Jenrick. Those exit polls suggested a bad night for Labour, and what could end up being seen as a disappointing one for Lib Dems, given they pushed the remain stance so firmly.

23:54 In Sherwood, where the count is taking place in Boughton, there was a hold up because the final ballot box was delayed due to a crash on the A614. So start of full count was delayed. More on this shortly. Meanwhile, a reminder that Mark Spencer is defending this seat for the Conservatives. Here are all the Sherwood candidates;

 

23:45 In Ashfield, the Lib Dem Becky Wain has just practically conceded defeat, saying she ‘never expected to win’. Remember the Lib Dems once were very strong here, almost winning the seat back in 2010? Things have changed dramatically since and it’s fair to say tonight it’s a straight fight between Labour and the Tories.

 

23:35 In Broxtowe we’ve just been talking to Labour candidate Greg Marshall. He told our reporters Chloe Bicknell and Will Varney the national exit polls look ‘disappointing’ but he remains optimistic locally;

23:28 That exit polls is suggesting Lee Anderson might win Ashfield for the Conservatives – a big shock there if that’s the case. It also shows the Conservatives winning in Broxtowe. The same research suggests Labour will win Nottingham East. Gedling? – the research says this seat is too close to call!

23:22 There are some very interesting results from a constituency by constituency exit poll carried out by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, ITV News and Sky News. It predicts results which would shock some parts of Notts.

23:14 In Broxtowe Labour are expected to mount a strong challenge with Greg Marshall, who came close in 2017. He’s just arrived at the count at the Pearson Centre (seen here talking to the woman in red).

23:14 At Broxtowe the ballot boxes are still coming in now. This seat is expected to be declared fairly late – perhaps 4am. Verification of votes has started here.

23:10 There are also a lot of eyes on Broxtowe, where Anna Soubry is defending the seat having famously left the Conservatives to vocally oppose Brexit. She’s standing as an independent, the Conservatives are targeting it, and so are Labour, here are the candidates;

22:57 A reminder of the candidates in Rushcliffe – Ruth Edwards is hoping to step into those rather big Tory shoes, but Cheryl Pidgeon is expected to at least give her a run for her money and the Lib Dem result is unpredictable here.

22:50 In Rushcliffe, there will be an interesting result whatever happens. Ken Clarke held this seat for the Conservatives for more than 30 years. He was kicked out of the party by Boris Johnson over his opposition to Brexit – and is not standing this time. Rushcliffe is considered a remain area – so a Conservative defence in these circumstances is by no means certain.

Here’s the scene at Rushcliffe Arena a few minutes ago – verification under way.

22:38 Verification is under way in Newark already.

22:33 Looks like Newark were first to get boxes back in followed closely by Nottingham. Counting under way in both locations already.

22:27 And ballot boxes are already arriving and being opened at Newark and at Nottingham Tennis Centre, where Nottingham South, East, and North are all counted in one place.

22:15 Here are those Conservative celebrations in Broxtowe as the exit poll comes through.

22:13 Our reporter Will Varney says there were visible celebrations among Conservatives in Broxtowe when that result came in – it will the Tories a boost ahead of counting in that hugely unpredictable seat.

22:06 That’s an increase of fifty seats, should that indicative poll – remember its just an exit poll – prove accurate. If it did, that’s nothing short of a disaster for Labour and a triumph for the Conservatives. Now we must see how many of those new Conservative seats might be won in Notts.

22.00 Exit polls suggest a Conservative majority is the most likely result with a majority of 86 predicted for Boris Johnson’s party.

21:55 Good evening. Is it evening? What day is it? Is something happening today? Tonight? Chris Breese here, running through into the wee small hours. First up – exit polls – which will arrive in ten minutes when the polling stations themselves close at 22.00.

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