Election 2010 - See the result unfolding here:

6.36am: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg holds his Sheffield Hallam seat with 27,324 votes. It's a majority of 15,284 votes - 29.9 per cent.

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6.25am: Conservatives are currently 57 seats short of a majority – with just 96 seats left to declare.

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6.00am: See how the political make-up of the country has changed overnight with our map. Click here.

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5.53am: Green Party gains first Parliamentary seat in Brighton

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5.26am: North Shropshire - Sue Austin heads home at last from the Whitchurch Civic Centre. It's raining, but the birdsong in the sleeping town centre lifts her spirits.

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5.25am: North Shropshire - Full results are as follows:

Steve Boulding, Green Party, 808; Ian Croll, Liberal Democrats, 10864; Sandra List, UKIP, 2432; Ian McLaughlan, Labour, 9406; Owen Paterson, Conservative, 26,692; Phil Reddall, BNP, 1667

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4.55am: Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke loses Norwich South

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4.45am: See our election round-up video, complete with footage of the declarations in Telford and The Wrekin. Click here to watch it.

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4.36am: Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith loses Redditch seat

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4.31am: North Shropshire - Owen Paterson retains his seat for the Conservatives

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4.25am: Ludlow - Philip Dunne, Conservatives, 25,720; Heather Kidd, Lib Dems, 15,971; Tony Hunt, Labour, 3,272; Jacqui Morrish, Green, 447; Christopher Gill, UKIP, 2,127; Christina Evans, BNP, 1,016; Alan Powell, Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party, 179.

The turnout was 73.2 per cent.

4am: Shrewsbury – result just in and Conservative Daniel Kawczynski has held the seat with 23,313 votes.

Charles West, Liberal Democrat, secured 15,369; Jon Tandy, Labour, 10,915; Peter Lewis, UK Independence Party, 1,627; James Whittall, British National Party, 1,168; Alan Whittaker, Green, 565 ; and James Gollings, Impact Party, 88.

That's a Conservative majority of 7,944 from a turnout of 70.3 per cent.

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3.55am: North Shropshire - RESULT ALERT: Declaration imminent

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3.57: Shrewsbury & Atcham - Daniel Kawczynski holds seat for the Conservatives

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3.56: Ludlow - Philip Dunne holds seat

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3.42am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - RESULT ALERT: Declaration imminent

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3.37: Ludlow - Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party candidate Alan Powell has just turned up.

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3.36: Ludlow - Result alert: Declaration imminent

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3.35: Regular Shropshirestar.com correspondent 'Jeepers' decides to knock it on the head for the night. In an email he tells us: "As I have to work later on in the morning I have to bail out now (3.30am!). Hope you're all kept well supplied with tea and biccies."

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3.27am: Brecon and Radnorshire - Liberal Democrat Roger Williams holds on to his seat

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3.21am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - Charles West, Liberal Democrat candidate for Shrewsbury & Atcham said: "It's been a really good campaign which has been increasingly enjoyable.

"We've been campaigning for 18 months and we feel we've been increasing our share over that time.

"There's been a quite noticeable change of atmosphere after the first debate with people stopping me in the street to say well done."

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3.20am: Municipal Correspondent Dave Morris vents his spleen on the subject of exit polls and pundits. Read his views here.

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3.20am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - James Gollings, for the Impact Party, has been speaking to our team at the Shrewsbury & Atcham count.

He said: "Today we were trying to encourage everyone that hadn't voted to vote. I was going around the whole constituency.

"Everyone seems to be positive that they're going to vote.".

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3.09am: Alistair Darling holds his Edinburgh South West seat with 19,473 votes - a majority of 8,847.

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3.05am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - Declaration now expected around 3.30am after delays with the count.

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3.04am: Our municipal correspondent Dave Morris says Mr Cameron did not sound as assured in his acceptance speech as expected. He refused to claim victory, or that he would be the leader of the next Government. The next few hours - or even days - could be very interesting.

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2.58am: Here's the big surprise of the night, David Cameron has held on to his seat in Witney. I suspect he had little to worry about as the votes rolled in. Mr Cameron makes reference to the voting problems around the country in his acceptance speech. He says it is clear Labour has lost its mandate to govern and the Tories are on target to win more seats than for 80 years. He says his party should be proud of its campaign, which was positive. He says the country wants change and that means new leadership. He says he is ready to do all he can to bring about that change. "At all times what I shall do is put the national interest first to make sure we have strong, stable government for this country."

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2.57am: Ludlow - Still no sign of Alan Powell of the Monster Raving Loonies.

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2.36am: I know this is shameless self-promotion, but our colleague Shirley Tart has just sent us this note to keep our spirits up as the night draws on. "What brilliant overnight coverage of local results and atmophere. Real instant reporting, excellent. Very well done everybody." Thank you Shirley, and shouldn't you be in bed.

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2.32am: Shrewsbury & Atcham – First stage of the count is over. Lib Dem candidate Dr Charles West tells our reporter Emma Kasprzak that he is now on the double expressos!!

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2.30am: Ludlow - Another update from Richard Thomas, acting returning officer at Ludlow, he's very pleased with the way the count is going.

Staff have verified, sorted and are still counting the ballot papers and all seems to be running smoothly.

He won't be drawn on whether there will be an early declaration, but no problems so far it seems.

In other news, we're nearly out of wine gums.

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2.28am: Reports coming in suggest police in Northern Ireland say the car left near a county centre in Londonderry did contain a viable explosive device. A controlled explosion was carried out, and the device defused.

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2.24am: Montgomery - Here's the full result of the amazing count.

Glyn Davies, Conservative 13,976; Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat, 12,792; Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru, 2,802; Nick Colbourne, Labour, 2,407; David Rowlands, UK Independence Party, 1,128; Milton Ellis, National Front, 384; Bruce Lawson, Independent 324.

Majority of 1,184 with a turnout of 69.4 per cent.

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2.23am: Montgomery - It's official. Lembit Opik has lost to Tory rival Glyn Davies. Full result follows soon.

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2.22am: North Shropshire - It is announced that there have been 51,964 votes cast in the North Shropshire constituency. The figure is 65.8 per cent of the electorate - 78,926 an increase on last year.

Postal votes handed into the polling station bring the postal vote up to 83 per cent of the postal voting slips sent out. According to election officers the figure is unprecedented.

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2.15am: Montgomery - Stand by for a sensation. Rumours at the count suggest Lembit Opik might have lost his seat to the Tories. Nothing confirmed but it's the talk of the count according to our reporter Anwen Evans.

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2.14am: The stress is starting to show in Merseyside as the Lib Dem councillor for Birkdale in Southport has collapsed from exhaustion and been taken away from the count in an ambulance

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2.08am: Montgomery - VOTE ALERT, result imminent.

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2.03am: Asda's spicy rice cracker mix loses its appeal somewhat after three hours. Anyone got a banana I can have?

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1.59am: Telford - One Telford woman voted for the first time in three decades after admitting she had been scared to go to the polling station alone, Sue Austin reports.

Steve Charmley, from the North Shropshire Conservatives who was in the Telford ward helping the Tories there galvanise support, said he had been saddened by her story.

"She said she had not voted since the year that Margaret Thatcher got into power, because living where she lived on Brookside, she did not want to go to the polling station on her own," he said.

Mr Charmley, a rugby playing, six foot four inch tall chap, said he was more than happy to accompany her to the poll.

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1.45am: North Shropshire - at Whitchurch Civic Centre all the ballot slips for the North Shrophire constituency have been verified and the final counting is under way. Election staff manage to take a break for a welcome cuppa before the final count gets under way in earnest.

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1.40am: Montgomeryshire - Lembit Opik has arrived at Welshpool Town Hall ready for the result announcement.

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1.48am: Full results from The Wrekin are: Mark Pritchard, Conservative, 21,922; Paul Kalinauckas, Labour, 12,472; Ali Cameron-Daw, Liberal Democrat, 8,019; Malcolm Hurst, UK Independence Party, 2,050; Susan Harwood, British National Party, 1,505.

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1.45am: The Wrekin – Conservative Mark Pritchard secures a massive win to hold his seat with 21,922 votes. A 42.1 per cent share

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1.44am Montgomeryshire - Results should be announced within the next five minutes

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1.44am: Conservatives hold The Wrekin

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1.40am: Full result from Telford where Labour's David Wright has held his seat. He polled 15,974 ahead of Conservative candidate Tom Biggins on 14,996. Mr Wright's majority has fallen from 5,406 to just 978.

Other results were: Phil Bennion, Liberal Democrats, 6,399, Denis Allen, UKIP, 2,428, Phil Spencer, BNP, 1,513.

Turnout was 63.6 per cent.

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1.37am: The Wrekin - The result is due imminently

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1.35am: Gordon Brown holds his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat with 29,559 votes.

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1.32am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - The turnout this year is 70.4 per cent - higher than 2005 when the turnout was 68.7, it has been confirmed.

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1.31am - David Wright holds Telford

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1.30am: Ludlow - The count continues at Ludlow.

We've also had reports of last-minute sign sabotage at Ashford Carbonell near Ludlow.

Lib Dem member Viv Parry said an elderly resident had had paint splashed on garden gate, when Lib Dem signs around the village were daubed with red paint.

She said: "She's an elderly lady who has supported us all her life.

"The paint has gone all over her garden gate.

"She rang me first thing this morning. It happened last night. I think maybe it's someone who just thought they were being funny."

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1.29am: Former Labour MP and Education Secretary David Blunkett says his instinct is Labour has lost the election.

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1.29am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - James Whittall, who stood for the BNP in Shrewsbury & Atcham said: "Obviously we did some last minute knocking on doors but all small parties seem to have been squeezed a little bit.

"We thought the reaction was really good but whether it's translated into votes is what we'll find out in time.

"It's the first time we've stood anyone in Shropshire at all so we're all trying to see how everyone has done.

"We've given people in Shropshire a chance to vote for a true British party that puts them first.

"We'll find out in a few hours what they've decided."

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1.27am: Shrewsbury - Shropshire Star Reporter Emma Kasprzak burns her tongue on coffee but is determined to battle on with the live election updates.

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1.26am: Telford - Confusion abounding at the Telford count with the only thing certain that the vote is very close.

Informed sources think sitting Labour MP David Wright may have clung on with as few as 2,000 votes, a drop of more than 3,000 in his majority and a swing of 4-5 per cent to the Tories.

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1.20am: Montgomeryshire - The result is expected within the next half-hour.

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1.14am: Gordon Brown says he will try to form a coalition government to keep Labour in power if there is a hung parliament, Downing Street sources have confirmed.

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1.06am: Telford With minutes to go ahead of the Telford count, talk on the counting chamber floor is that we might need a re-count!

Rumour is of a difference at the top "which you could count on your fingers and toes."

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1.03am: Conservatives get their first seat of the night taking Kingswood. Chris Skidmore secures 19,362 votes in a constituency where there is a 72.2 per cent turnout.

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12.57am: Shrewsbury & Atcham - Alan Whittaker, standing for the Green Party in Shrewsbury and Atcham, has been speaking to the Shropshire Star's Emma Kasprzak.

He said: "I've been around the polling stations and they were very busy in the morning.

"I suspect there will be a high turnout because of all the interest from the TV debates.

He added he had enjoyed campaigning in Shrewsbury where there was a "good, positive vibe".

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12.55am: There may be problems across the country with polling, but none reported in Shrewsbury and Ludlow according to our reporters.

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12.50am: The Wrekin - The increase in turnout for Wrekin constituency has been put down to a direct result of the TV debates, according to Labour candidate Paul Kalinauckas.

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12:47am: Ludlow - "Table 1 please start." With those words, Richard Thomas, acting returning officer for Ludlow has signalled the start of the counting process at the leisure centre. The total number of postal votes for the Ludlow constituency has also been announced - 8,122. I'm not sure quite how the ordering of this works, but Table 6 has now also started counting.

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12.47am: VOTE ALERT - Telford result expected in 10 minutes. Stay here for live video coverage

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12.43am: More on the voting chaos - hundreds of people have been left unable to vote across the country.

Local residents challenged officials at Fallowfields in Manchester, after being told they were too late to cast their vote.

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12.45am: Telford and Wrekin - Telford Liberal Democrat candidate Phil Bennion says his party is hoping to increase its share of the vote in Telford, and also in the Wrekin. He adds: "What we have achieved already is to bring into the fold a lot of young activists. The building process has been a real success and we are confident we can go into next year's local elections with a stronger team."

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12.43am: Shropshire Star reporter Simon Hardy inadvertently goes into the ladies toilets at the Telford count... and is promptly escorted out.

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12.30pm: North Shropshire - The last ballot boxes arrive at Whitchurch Civic Centre, bringing an air of excitement to the count. All the candidates except conservative, Owen Paterson have now arrived.

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12.41am: North Shropshire - The last ballot box to arrive at Whitchurch Civic Centre was from Pant Memorial Institute, one of the most westerly polling stations in the constituency.

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12.40am: The first of our occasional 'you know you are getting old when...' features tonight. I've just seen Hilary Benn on the BBC. First thought? Isn't he starting to look like his Dad. Any more similar contributions welcome.

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12.35am: Ludlow - We're now one off a full set of candidates at the Ludlow count. Conservative Philip Dunne has arrived and said he has spent an "exhilirating" day going around polling stations. He said: "Everywhere I went, I had a positive reception from people in the streets, but you never know until the votes are counted." Asked if he thought he had won, Mr Dunne said: "I don't know, I can't tell you."

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12.32am: VIDEO ALERT: Video journalist James Shaw has just filed his first report from Telford and Wrekin's count.

• Click here to watch his interview with David Wright.

• Click here to watch his interview with Victor Brownlees, returning officer for Telford and The Wrekin

Go to our video section for more. And don't miss our ace interview with Reginald D Hunter, filmed at Telford service station, while you are there.

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12.20am: Montgomeryshire - Voter turnout in Montgomeryshire is 60 per cent, down four per cent on 2005. A total of 29,214 votes were cast out of an electorate of 48,730.

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12.20am: Shrewsbury and Atcham - And they're off in Shrewsbury - the votes are in and verified and the count has officially begun. The result is expected to be announced at around 2.30am.

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12.19am: Reports coming in say counting has been officially suspended at a count in Londonderry following a security alert. A hijacked car was apparently found in a car park and army bomb disposal experts are on the scene.

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12.18am: Shrewsbury and Atcham - UKIP's Shrewsbury & Atcham candidate Peter Lewis talks to the Shropshire Star's Emma Kasprzak at the count.

He said: "Today was relatively relaxing.You can do little work going around the polling stations as it's a bit late to be doing any serious canvassing.

"This count seems well organised as it's easier for people to observe and draw conclusions.

"Previously they've been quite different and it can be extremely difficult."

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12.18am Ludlow - Heather Kidd of the Lib Dems, Philip Dunne's nearest rival in Ludlow, has said she does not think she has won the seat.

Mrs Kidd, who has spent the day traversing the constituency to get her supporters out and voting said national trends led her to think a Lib Dem victory in Ludlow was unlikey.

She said: "From what's happening nationally, you can get a feeling.

"Had the swing gone the other way, it would have been completely different."

But Mrs Kidd, who has visited Craven Arms, Broseley, Much Wenlock, Ludlow, Bishop's Castle and Church Stretton today to rally support, said she would not be going anywhere.

She said: "My support has held up and I'm much better known in Bridgnorth now. If I am re-selected, I will fight the next election."

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12.11am: Voters locked out in at Manchester Wythenshawe, Hackney South, Sheffield Hallam and Chester according to reports.

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12.11am: Sky News are saying that former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is set to lose her Redditch seat. Remember hubby's porn films – charged to us, the taxpayer? I believe it's called poetic justice...

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12.07am: Telford - Sources close to the campaigns were predicting a swing of 4-5 per cent to the Tories in Telford, that would leave sitting Labour MP David Wright holding on to the seat but with a cut in his 4,000+ majority.

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12.06am – Crikes it's Friday already. Are you still with us? If so, award yourself a special Shropshire Star bonus point. It's good to have your company on a fascinating night.

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12.05am: North Shropshire - The High Sherriff of Shropshire, Mr Hugh Trevor-Jones, said it was fascinating to be watching democracy in action.

Mr Trevor-Jones, newly installed in his post, toured Whitchurch's count with deputy returning officer, Stacey Ijewsky.

It was the second count on his overnight drive across Shropshire also taking in Telford and Wrekin, Shrewsbury, and finally Ludlow.

"I am exercising my right to be returning officer in my home constituency, Ludlow."

"This is a very calm and well run count."

"Tonight is the first time I have been to a count and it is fascinating. It is wonderful to see our great democracy at first hand."

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12.03am: Electoral Commission says it will undertake 'thorough review' of constituencies where people were unable to vote.

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12.03am Montgomeryshire - Anwen Evans writes: There is no tea or refreshments here in Welshpool Town Hall. Everyone has brought their own - including me. I've got water and chocolate biscuits. People are sitting around eating their sandwiches.

The first stage of the count has been completed and the counters have gone for a break.

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12.00: Ludlow - It's midnight and four more candidates are now at the Ludlow count.

Heather Kidd of the Lib Dems has just arrived.

Jacqui Morrish for the Green Party, Tony Hunt for Labour and Christopher Gill for UKIP are all on site.

Mr Gill was Conservative MP for Ludlow for 14 years from 1987 . He said: "I was genuinely amazed at meeting so many people on the campaign trail who remembered me. Whether that will translate into votes I really don't know."

Mr Gill said he expected many people would have voted tactically, choosing what they felt was the least worst option.

As yet, no sign of Philip Dunne for the Conservatives or Alan Powell for the Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party.

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12.00: North Shropshire - First signs of a high turn out. The postal votes show that 79 per cent of the postal votes sent out in North Shropshire constitunency have been returned - an extremely high percentage.

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12.00: Telford and The Wrekin - On the stroke of midnight Conservative candidate for Wrekin, Mark Pritchard, and Labour's David Wright, standing in Telford, arrive at TCAT.

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11.59pm: In marginal seat of Chester, Labour claim more than 600 people turned away at polling stations because polling lists had not been updated.

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11.58pm: Telford and The Wrekin - Early predictions of a high turnout proved correct with 63.6 per cent of eligible voters going to the polls in Telford, compared with 57.8 per cent in 2005, while in Wrekin the figure was 70.3 per cent, as opposed to 67.1 per cent in 2005.

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11.55pm: Montgomeryshire - The first stage of the count is drawing to a close. The result is expected to be in by 2am.

Candidates Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat, and Glyn Davies, Conservative, have still not arrived, but the other five candidates are here in Welshpool Town Hall.

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11.52pm: Even more polling problem reports coming in nationally, with one polling station having reportedly run out of ballot papers while some constituents had yet to vote and another staying open an extra 10 minutes meaning there was voting after the exit polls came in.

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11.51pm. Telford and The Wrekin - Simon Hardy writes - As tension mounted at TCAT there was more strain on the contingent of smokers who were ushered away from outside the building to nearby paths to comply with council policy!

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11.50pm: Things have ground to a momentary halt here at Ketley. Time for my colleague John Kirk to put the kettle on?

Anyone who wants to drop off a packet of Jammy Dodgers is more than welcome.

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11.48pm: Ludlow - Richard Thomas, acting returning officer at Ludlow, says the count has gone well in the first hour.

He said: "We're making significant progress and got through quite a number of boxes.

"The second van has arrived from Bridgnorth, earlier than it ever has before.

"We're hoping to keep on target. We're still expecting vans from Clun, Bishop's Castle and Much Wenlock.

"At a guess, we are about a third of the way through verification."

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11.45pm: Shrewsbury - Some vital stats from Shrewsbury: Shrewsbury and Atcham has 75,443 registered voters. There are 80 polling stations around the constituency and by 11pm all the ballot boxes were in. Postal votes will finish being verified 'imminently'.

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11.42pm Telford - The counting of postal ballots in Telford is finished and the main count begins.

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11.42pm: It's a hat-trick for Sunderland, as they declare the third result of the evening. This time it's the Sunderland Central result, and a win for Labour again with candidate Julie Elliott taking the seat with 19,495 votes. The turnout is 57 per cent.

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11.36pm: Bill Cash, Conservative candidate for Stone, has been speaking to the BBC.

He said: "This exit poll seems to producing some very unpredictable results. From the doorstep in my constituency and nearby, immigration was extremely high on the list.

"I think there are a lot of issues that are going to make a big difference to marginals."

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11.35pm: Telford and Wrekin - As midnight looms, the count for both Telford and Wrekin constituencies is going very well. They have gained 30 minutes on the 2005 election timings. That would see the Telford result come in at around 1.30am and Wrekin's being declared two hours later.

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11.35pm: More kind words for our efforts here, this time from someone called Simon. He says: "Also impressed – I like the live blog, in particular the flashes of humour eg the little dig at Piers Morgan at 10.28pm. Ho ho :) Very curious as to how Lembit Opik will do also. Will his intransigence over expenses do him in? Personally, I hope so….

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11.33pm: Wrekin - Ali Daw, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Wrekin, tells our reporter Jason Lavan she is confident about the result and says she has fought a tough campaign.

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11.27pm: Second result in, and it's from Sunderland again. There must be something in the tea up there. The declaration of the Washington and Sunderland West seat sees Labour candidate Sharon Hodgson elected with 19,615 votes. Labour hold with a 54 per cent turnout.

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11.31pm: Telford and Wrekin - Conservative leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Andrew Eade is at the count at TCAT.

He said: "It's going to be an exciting night and clearly the Conservatives are going to be the largest group in parliament but how it pans out after that remains to be seen. It will be fascinating for the council. "I have no doubt Mark Pritchard, having been in the job for five years, is going to be successful again. Telford has always been safe Labour but we have an excellent candidate in Tom Biggins and the reaction we have had on the doorstep is that voters have been impressed by him."

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11.23pm: More reports coming in of problems with voting elsewhere in the country, including London, and suggestions there could be a legal challenge. This could be one of the developing stories of the night. Anyone remember hanging chads and the great US election debacle of 2000?

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11.20pm: Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles told ITV News that the Tories would "of course" seek to offer stable government in a hung parliament if that was what the public chose.And he added: "My gut instinct is that your exit poll is probably wrong but if it's right, Labour have lost the election, they've lost any legitimacy."

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11.18pm: Dom Joly, of Trigger Happy TV fame, asks the BBC cameras if they've heard anything from Lembit Opik? He urges the Lib Dem candidate for Montgomeryshire to call him! Go on Lembit, make the call.

11.16pm: Emma Kasprzak at Shrewsbury - Last ballot boxes expected at 11.20pm. Estimated time of results for Shrewsbury is 3am.

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11.15pm: Sue Austin at North Shropshire - The High Sheriff of Shropshire, Hugh Trevor-Jones, arrives at Whitchurch Civic Centre. He is shown around the count by deputy returning officer, Stacey Ijewsky. The Labour, Lib Dem, UKIP and BNP candidates have all arrived in the building.

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11.15pm: Ludlow - The Ludlow candidate for the BNP Christina Evans has arrived at the count She said: "The campaign has been very exciting. I've had a better response from people than I thought I would. I think people are pleased with having a variety this time instead of the usual three candidates."Facing the prospect of a tight race in an area where the Liberals and Conservatives are usually regarded as the main contenders, she said: "My main aim has been to make a dent in that and make sure people know I'm here, giving them a choice."

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11.11pm: Telford and Wrekin mayor Councillor Karen Blundell toured the count at what is her second general election, but first as civic leader.

She said: "It is lovely to see democracy in action and also to be able to show off the wonderful facilities we have in Telford & Wrekin. It is an exciting evening and has been well organised."

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11.07pm: Nice comment in from Shropshirestar.com fan Tony. "Excellent coverage, very impressed so far, keep up the good work." Thanks Tony - don't forget you can add your comment in the box below. Go on, you know you want to.

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11.04pm: Telford and Wrekin - Acting Returning Officer for Telford and Wrekin Victor Brownlees said early indications were that there had been a very high turnout.

Mr Brownlees said there was a chance the showing in the 2005 election could be beaten, when 67 per cent of the electorate turned out in the Wrekin and 57 per cent turned out in Telford.

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10.55: Montgomeryshire - The count is halfway through getting the ballot boxes in from from 68 polling stations.

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10.51pm: Houghton and Sunderland South has become the first constituency in the UK to declare its result. Labour party candidate Bridget Phillipson wins with 19,137 votes. Labour hold with a 50 per cent majority from a turnout of 55 per cent.

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10.47pm: Telford & Wrekin Returning Officer Victor Brownlees has spoken to the Shropshire Star's Jason Lavan and said he was very pleased with the progress of the count so far.

He added 80 per cent of the record number of postal votes had now been returned.

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10.45pm: North Shropshire - Counting is well under way in Whitchurch Civic Centre. The first ballot box to arrive from outside the town itself was from the village of Prees.

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10.40pm: Ludlow - A few figures for you from the Ludlow constituency.

We don't have an indication of turn out at this stage, but across the constituency, 66,631 people are registered to vote. The last of the ballot boxes from 94 polling stations is expected around midnight.

We have an estimated time of declaration of around 5am.

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10.40pm: Business Secretary Lord Mandelson says the country is heading for a "cliffhanger" result.Lord Mandelson said: "Of course, many people have turned away from the Labour Party but what they haven't done is to fly into the arms of David Cameron's Tories."

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10.39: Early reports from some constituencies – notably Sheffield – that people have been turned away from polling stations without voting because of big queues. Officials say nobody can vote after 10pm no matter how long they have been waiting.

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10.39pm: Shrewsbury - Kim Ryley, acting returning officer, gave a short speech to candidates, election agents and counting staff saying the count would be a two stage process following verification of turnout and postal votes.

He said: "First we will separate the ballot papers by candidate making sure they are in the right place and then we will count them."

He added candidates would be able to verify papers before the results were announced.

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10.34pm: Reports that there were lengthy queues of voters in Leeds and Manchester half an hour before polls closed. Some people unable to vote as a result.

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10.32pm: The BBC has now rolled out Bruce Forsyth. Is this not cruelty so early in the night? (Mind you, Sky have just boasted they have got Harriet Harman coming up - so it's Hobson's choice.) Best bet is to stick with us.

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10.32pm: As the ballot boxes come for the Wrekin count IT staff are busy trying to fix computer problems which are blighting press coverage

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10.30pm: Andy Richardson at the Ludlow count: It looks like being a high turnout here with the last box due in at midnight.

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10.28pm: Need a good reason to follow the election on the Shropshire Star rather than the BBC? Well, Piers Morgan has just popped up on the Beeb. The night feels long already....

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10.28pm: The verification process begins at the Shrewsbury count

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10.26pm: Telford - One of the first candidates back for the count was Denis Allen of UKIP, who said he though his campaign had gone very well.

He added: "If everyone is telling the truth there could be upsets. However, I'm well aware that people sometimes say they will vote for you just to get you off their doorstep.

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10.23pm: UKIP's Malcolm Hurst has arrived at the Wrekin count and says he is 'feeling good' about the result.

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10.10: Whitchurch Civic Centre – The first ballot box arrives and is registered.

With the nearest polling station just a few yards away at Whitchurch Market Hall, the box was walked across to the Civic Centre.

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10.10pm: Whitchurch Civic Centre - North Shropshire Constituency. There is an air of anticipation inside the building while outside in a quiet rear entry, two security guards stand waiting for the first ballot boxes to arrive. The road is bollarded off and people are already parking their cars.

***

10.11pm: Montgomeryshire - First ballot box arrives at Welshpool Town Hall under the supervision of Chief Returning Officer Jeremy Patterson.

Candidates on the scene so far are David Rowlands, UKIP, Helledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru, and Milton Ellis, National Front

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10.07pm: Shrewsbury: The first ballot boxes begin to arrive at Shrewsbury Sports Village for the town's count.

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10.05: Ludlow - opening of the postal vote boxes begins at the Ludlow Leisure Centre's main sports hall.

Correspondent Hannah Costigan has yet to see the candidates arrive.

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10.03: Home Secretary Alan Johnson says the Tories appear to have done well and the air has well and truly come out of the Lib Dems' tyres.

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10.01: The big BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll says the Conservatives are heading to be the largest party in a hung parliament.

The figures show the Conservatives winning 307 seats, Labour securing 255 seats, the Liberal Democrats with 59 and others with 29.

326 seats are needed to win an overall parliament.

***

10.00: Polls close

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0955: Telford and Wrekin: Early candidates arrive at TCAT as the polls close at 10pm and the counting of postal votes for the constituencies begins.

A record number of more than 40,00o postal votes was sent out across both constituencies, where about 130,000 people are eligible to vote, and a hefty 80 per cent were returned.