Election results latest: All the most important seats and times to watch out for

The Independent's guide on what to keep an eye out for on the night of the election and the early hours of Friday morning as the 650 parliamentary constituencies across the UK declare their results

Voters will be heading to the polls in the snap general election between 7am and 10pm on Thursday. Here The Independent has compiled a guide on what to keep an eye out for on the night of the election and the early hours of Friday morning as the 650 parliamentary constituencies across the UK declare their results.

You can see a full list of declaration times here.

10pm

Voting closes in the general election and exit poll released. This is more reliable than opinion polls as it measures how thousands of people actually voted. While the exit polls underestimated the Conservatives’ lead at the last election, they were spot-on in 2005 and 2010.

11pm

Sunderland and Houghton will be hoping to hold onto its title as the first seat to declare. It announced the result at the last election at 10.48pm and it’s here you will see clips of teenagers frantically passing ballot boxes to each other in a race against time.

At the last election, Labour’s candidate Bridget Phillipson won 55 per cent of the vote and many will be looking at the seat for an indication of a swing on the evening (partly because there will be no other result to examine at this point). If you’re planning on pulling an all-nighter, now is the time to grab a coffee – and possibly a quick nap.

1am

Putney, a strongly pro-EU seat, is expected to declare at this time. During the last parliament the Education Secretary Justine Greening held the seat. This seat could provide a good indication as to whether the Conservative Brexit strategy as in anyway harmed the party in areas which voted heavily to Remain.

Nuneaton is also expected around the same time. At the last election, David Cameron said the result here was the moment he realised the exit poll was accurate and he was on course for victory. Mr Corbyn should be making gains by this point if he expects to visit Buckingham Palace for tea with the Queen and move his cat, El Gato, to Downing Street on Friday morning.

1.30am

This is the point when we will start to discover whether Ms May’s gamble to hold the election has paid off. At this time Labour seats, including Tooting, Wrexham, and Darlington will declare. If the PM makes gains here, it will indicate a dismal result for Labour. Darlington has been Labour since 1992 but the Ukip vote here at the last general election was greater than the majority, so it could swing to the Tories should Ukip voters switch allegiances. But if Ms May fails to gather momentum she could be in for a grim morning.

2am

Results will begin coming through much faster by this point, with 33 constituencies expected to announce their results at this time. They include Thurrock – a three-way marginal – and Peterborough, which the Conservatives should be holding if they are on course for victory. Tory Jackie Doyle-Price had a slim 500 vote majority at the last election.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, will also learn at this time whether she has held onto her seat in Hastings and Rye. At the last election she had 44 per cent compared with Labour’s 35 per cent.

2.30am

Jeremy Corbyn’s ultra-safe seat of Islington North will declare, alongside his ally and shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry. Comrades in Islington North returned Mr Corbyn to parliament at the last election with 60 per cent of the vote share. He should be expecting to build on this. But there could be worse news elsewhere. The City of Chester – Labour’s most marginal seat (majority: 93) – is expected to declare.

Jeremy Corbyn hosts an election rally in Glasgow (Getty) (Robert Perry/Getty Images)

3am

A raft of other seats will also declare at this time, including Angus Robertson’s Moray seat in Scotland. According to the Electoral Calculus projector, the SNP’s Westminster leader could lose his seat in what could be a significant setback for Nicola Sturgeon’s party.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron’s Westmorland seat will also be among the dozens of seats also set to announce at this point.

3.30am

Tony Blair’s former seat of Sedgefield will announce at this time, with some believing it could be on a knife-edge. One of the only pro-Leave Labour candidates, Kate Hoey, will also discover whether she has retained her seat in Vauxhall or whether voters in the heavily Remain area decide to punish her.

4am

By this point there should be a good indication to the extent of the Liberal revival – or lack of one. The party’s strategy of wooing “the 48 per cent” – those who voted to Remain – will be highlighted as Sir Vince Cable, the former Coalition minister, will learn whether he has won back his Twickenham seat lost at the last general election.

Clive Lewis, a Corbyn ally and former frontbencher, will also learn his fate in Norwich South. He was nearly 8,000 votes ahead of his Tory rival at the last election but Ukip won 4,539 votes.

Key allies of Corbyn, including Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, who both have healthy majorities, will be making speeches at this point too. Cabinet beasts such as Boris Johnson, Philip Hammond and David Davis will also be waiting for their constituencies to declare.

One to look out at this time will also Richmond Park where Zac Goldsmith is standing again under the banner of the Conservatives. He lost the by-election last year to the Lib Dems after resigning from the party over its position on Heathrow and stood as an independent.

4.30am

The Prime Minister’s constituency of Maidenhead is expected to declare at this time. Around two-thirds of the seats will be in by this time so May should have a clear indication whether she will be heading back to Downing Street or be hiring a removal van to collect her possessions in the morning.

Theresa May on the campaign trail (Getty) (Getty Images Europe)

Nick Clegg, who faced a credible challenge at the last election from Labour, will also be preparing to give a speech in Sheffield Hallam at this time. His voter share decreased by 13 per cent in 2015.

5am

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall will learn whether he has emerged victorious (or facing his second parliamentary defeat) at this time when Boston and Skegness declares. If the pollsters are correct, and Ukip voters do indeed flock to the Conservatives, then Nuttall could be in for a particularly bleak morning. Expect questions to loom over his leadership of the party should he fail to win this seat.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall could be in for a dismal morning (PA)

6am

Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green Party, will learn whether Brighton Pavillion has returned her as the MP for the constituency. The Liberal Democrats have decided not to stand here to help Lucas, who is already hugely popular in the area.

The former employment minister Esther McVey, who is running in George Osborne’s former seat of Tatton is also expected to be returned as an MP.

7am

If the timings are correct then all but six seats will have been declared. If a result is not clear by this point then Ms May’s gamble to call the election will have been a historic miscalculation.