We’re live at the Fife count as the results of the 2024 General Election are announced in what could be one of the biggest nights in recent electoral history.
Stuart Duffy is at the Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes where the count for the Fife seats is taking place.
5.45am – That’s all folks, as the chairs and tables are packed away at the Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes it’s night night from me!
5.41am – Listen to our first interview with the new MP for Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy, Melanie Ward.
5.30am – LIB DEM HOLD for North East Fife as Wendy Chamberlain defends her seat, with a total of 23,384 votes. That’s the final seat declaration from Fife.
5.25am – Labour Gain the Dunfermline & Dollar constituency from the SNP, with Graeme Downie elected on 20,336 votes.
5.15am – Glenrothes and Mid Fife result now being announced. LABOUR have taken the Glenrothes and Mid Fife seat, with Richard Baker elected taking the seat from the SNP with 15,994 votes.
5.14am – Listen to Cowdenbeath’s new MP, Melanie Ward, making her acceptance speech.
5.05am – LABOUR Gain the Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy constituency with Melanie Ward elected as the new MP with 18,662 votes, ousting Alba’s Neale Hanvey, who didnt appear on stage for the declaration.
5.00am – the first result for Fife is imminent, with Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy constituency about to be declared.
4.42am – Rishi Sunak has defended his seat and wins in Richmond and North Allerton.
4.12am – state of the parties in Scotland at the minute is Labour 18, SNP 4, Lib Dem 1 with 34 seats still to declare.
4.09am – the adjudication process now begins for the Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy constituency, where candidates are shown ballots where there was a mark which is not clearly for one candidate. This is usually a small number of ballots and comes near the end of the vote process, so the declaration will likely follow.
Penny Mordaunt loses her seat and is another big Tory name who will not return to Westminster this time.
3.39am – Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster Leader, has held his seat in Aberdeen South.
3.32am – Turnout for North Fife has been confirmed as 61.47% and 51.33% for Glenrothes & Mid Fife. The turnout for Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy was 56.96%.
Nigel Farage has won Clacton for Reform, representing the first election victory for Farage in several bids to get into Westminster. This takes Reform to 2 MPs so far.
3.30am – Turnout for the Dunfermline and Dollar seat has been declared as 61.35%. Votes continue to be sorted into each candidate/party and the result should be due soon.
3.30am – The night hasn’t got off to a great start for the SNP, losing 6 seats to Labour so far, and retaining just one seat so far in Aberdeen North.
3.14am – Douglas Alexander has won for Labour in Lothian East, one of Labour’s big target seats, with a 13,000 majority over the SNP.
3.10am – The first big scalp of the Cabinet has gone with Grant Shapps losing his seat in Welwyn Hatfield to Labour. He had formerly been the Secretary of State for Defence since 31st August 2023.
2.50am – Labour take West Dunbartonshire from the SNP with 49% of the vote share in the seat, up 20% and an 18.1% swing from SNP to Labour.
2.40am – In the first Scottish result of the night, coming from Kilmarnock, the Labour party have their first MP North of the border, with Lillian Jones taking the seat with 19,036 votes from the SNP. She now has a majority of over 5,000 in the first of what could become a Central Belt sweep for Labour in Scotland.
2.20am – Lee Anderson becomes the first Reform candidate elected to the UK Parliament, winning the seat of Ashfield in the Midlands with 17,062 votes, a majority of over 5,500 to their nearest rival Labour. Mr Anderson had previously defected from the Conservatives.
1.45am – the validation of the votes is nearing completion so the sorting of ballots for each candidate is now underway. Tables in each of the 4 constituencies how have workers busy sorting the votes into candidates/parties.
12.45am – Another fact from the count centre in Glenrothes, there were 71,845 registered voters in the Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy constituency for this election.
12.30am – In an interview with Radio Cowdenbeath, Neale Hanvey (Alba) said the SNP are “in decline” as he prepares for the result of tonight’s election, where he is defending the Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy seat.
He told us “What we have is failure, broken promises, delays and scandal and that’s not a way to attract anyone over to independence.”
With the Exit Poll suggesting Alba could lose both their MPs and the SNP be reduced to just 10 seats in Scotland, he said it was “entirely possible” independence supporters are loaning their vote to Labour to get rid of the Tories.
Listen to the full pre-results interview:
11.10pm – a small army of people are bringing boxes from all the polling centres around Fife, where they remain sealed until they reach the counting stations within the main hall. There are 4 counting areas, one for each of the 4 seats in the region. Police Scotland officers are also present to ensure none of the eager candidates or agents get out of line!
10.30pm – some fascinating facts about the election count for you… there are 310 ballot boxes or ‘stations’ across the 4 Fife seats, covering every street from Tayport in the North of Fife to Kincardine in the West.
The 4 Fife seats have all changed slightly since the last election, with the Boundary Commission making adjustments for population growth. The 4 seats are now:
North East Fife
Glenrothes & Mid Fife
Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy
Dunfermline & Dollar
10.20pm – the first ballot boxes have been opened and the count is underway in Glenrothes!
10pm – the polls are closed and now the work of the Elections Count Team at Fife Council begins. The first ballot boxes have arrived and the process of verifying the number of ballots begins.
Radio Cowdenbeath 