HISTORY is in the making as the country goes to the polls tomorrow (July 4), with massive changes predicted in the political landscape.
With the map of the UK widely expected to run from blue to red, according to the pollsters, Tindle, publisher of the Tavistock Times Gazette and Okehampton Times will be at every election count in the areas to give digital readers the results and reaction they need.
Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is hoping to prove the forecasts wrong by returning to Downing Street and preventing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer from leading his party to government.
Our readers will be able to watch events play out in real time with our digital coverage overnight from Thursday into Friday. Most digital results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning.
From Wales to Woking, Cornwall to Monmouthshire and Devon to Somerset, Tindle websites are running live blogs, election result round-ups, video and more.
Jon Gripton, Tindle deputy editorial director, said: “This is going to be a historic moment.
“Our readers expect us to keep them fully briefed, informed and hopefully also entertained, and our reporters and editors will be right at the heart of the communities they serve, with live as-it-happens coverage.”
Our editorial teams have been out reporting on the issues that matter to local voters.
South Hams reporter Richard Harding has interviewed Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and Reform leader Nigel Farage on the campaign trail. Tavistock and Okehampton reporter Alex Smith, meanwhile, met Sunak when he came to talk to farmers near Barnstaple, campaigning in the North Devon seat which is a target seat for the Liberal Democrats.
We have also published articles on all the candidates standing for election in our constituencies.
Devon residents will have to stay up until the early morning of July 5 to find out who their MPs will be for the next five years.
The UK will go to the polls in a general election on July 4, with polling stations being open between 7am and 10pm across the country (though many have already voted using postal voting). For the first time at a general election, photo ID is required to vote, so don’t forget yours.
Once the polls close at 10pm, volunteers will transport the ballot boxes to the counting venues, where the ballots will be verified and then counted before the result is announced.
According to the Press Association, Blyth and Ashington in Northumberland is expected to be the first seat to declare at around 11:30pm, beating the good people of Sunderland this time around.
The Blyth area offered the first big surprise on election night in 2019, with the Conservatives winning the traditional Labour seat – and the new constituency could be a similar bellwether this time around.
But the majority of seats in the West Country will not declare their results until much later in the night – with some not predicting to announce the winner until 5am.
When results are expected to be declared
There are three constituencies which cover the West Devon area, Torridge and Tavistock, Central Devon and South West Devon (which now includes a small area around Yelverton and Buckland Monachorum for the first time, after a boundary change).
The count for Torridge and Tavistock – where Sir Geoffrey Cox is defending the seat – is being held at the Atlantic Racquet Centre in Bideford, with the result expected to be declared at 6am on Friday. We will be at the count to give you the result and reaction. It is being run by Torridge District Council.
Meanwhile, the count for the Central Devon constituency, which includes the Okehampton area, will be held at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre in Crediton. This is likely to be declared at about 4.30am. Our colleagues at the Crediton Courier will be providing results and reaction.
And the votes for South West Devon are being counted at the Life Centre in Plymouth. Richard Harding from our sister paper the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Gazette will be reporting from the count. No estimated time has been given for the result to be declared.
Elsewhere in Devon, Tindle colleagues from the Mid Devon Advertiser will be at the count for the Newton Abbot constituency at Newton Abbot Racecourse. This result is expected to be declared by 3.30am. Meanwhile the South Devon constituency (formerly known as Totnes) is due to be declared between 3 and 4am. It will be counted at the Totnes Leisure Centre.
