ILFORD NORTH 2010 ELECTION LIVE

Ilford North was number 28 on Labour’s target list of seats nationwide but Lee Scott has increased his majority to a healthy 5,404 on a swing of 3.7 per cent from Labour to the Conservatives.

The swing is less than the nationwide trend, currently running at 5.4 per cent.

5.45am - Newly re-elected MP for Ilford North Lee Scott has spoken of his joy after claiming a resounding victory at the polls.

He said: "This is special.

"It was a tough campaign for a number of reasons, but that's behind us now.

"I am looking forward to getting down to addressing the problems that face Ilford North, including fighting for the future of King George Hospital.

"I will also do my best to help bring regeneration to the constituency, new business and new opportunities.

"I love my job with a passion and I'm so grateful that voters have responded to the work I have done over the past five years by re-electing me.

"I have achieved a much bigger majority this time, which is brilliant.

"I'm going to have some sleep now and then come back tomorrow to support my Conservative colleagues at the count for the council elections."

5.30am - RESULT for Ilford North, Lee Scott holds seat with 21,506 votes.

His closest rival, Labour challenger Sonia Klein polled 16,102 votes.

5.07am - The tension is almost unbearable. Every time the announcer goes anywhere near the microphone you get butterflies in your stomach.

Oh...no, false alarm, he was just on stage to shift a ballot box.

There's an awful lot of box moving going on, and quite a lot of chair and table leg scraping.

Those sounds tell me that something significant is about to happen.

Tory Ilford North incumbent Lee Scott clearly knows something is up. He is standing in front of the podium surrounded by his family and a gaggle of expectant Conservative Redbridge councillors.

He has that tell-tale look of a schoolboy ready to receive a gold star for spelling from teacher about him.

I'm guessing he believes he is about to hear some good news - but then Labour challenger Sonia Klein is looking quietly confident too.

And still we wait.

4.52am - The results for Ilford North are just minutes away from being announced.

Agents for the candidates are busy mulling over spoilt ballot papers in preparation for the big moment.

4.44am - Turnout figures for local elections announced - but Wanstead, Snaresbrook, Monkhams and Church End wards were missed out!

A total of 5,654 people turned out to vote in Bridge ward.

This is a 65.2 per cent turnout.

I have been told that the missing figures for Wanstead, Snaresbrook and Church End wards could well have been held up due to the split in counts between Redbridge and Waltham Forest.

4.30am - I stand corrected. As one of my colleagues has quite rightly pointed out the counters were not on a 'go-slow' as I previously suggested.

They were merely biding their time, recharging their batteries before a heroic final push towards the finishing line.

A result for Ilford North appears to be imminent.

The food run will have to wait. Again.

4.22am - Turnout for Ilford South is 59.7 per cent - up from 54 per cent in 2005.

The total number of voters who turned out in Ilford South was 51,505.

4.03am - It's gone 4.00am and we're still waiting for the Ilford South turnout figure to be announced.

Luckily, the Ilford North team are busy ploughing manfully through their stack of ballot papers.

I know you're tired. We're all tired. It's at times like this that it is possible to divide levels of human endurance into clearly definable categories.

Take the candidates for Ilford South and Ilford North for example.

Apart from the odd councillor and a smattering of BNP members, there are few politicians in sight.

You can almost hear the snoring from the television room.

No-one has any sympathy for the press, so I won't even try to put forward a case for praising our work this evening.

But the people counting the votes, now that is a different matter altogether. As a lesson in sheer doggedness and a refusal to give up in the face of interminable odds these people have few equals.

Hold on, scrub that. The counters on the Ilford South tables are sitting there doing nothing again - much to the frustration of those around me.

In fact all of the counters seem to be on a go slow at present. Maybe they are paid by the hour?

You know you've been working late when you quite literally can't believe what you are seeing.

3.49am - Things are heating up at Ilford Town Hall. If the intensity of an election count can be measured at all then it is in cups of tea.

Forget the smoke billowing from the tables as a legion of highly trained and motivated team of counters lay waste to yet another box of ballot papers.

No, it is the forest of empty polystyrene cups filled with tepid brown liquid that symbolises the final sprint to the finish line.

Strangely, Tory Ilford North incumbent Lee Scott is nowhere to be seen.

If anyone sees him, please ask him to make mine a strong one. No sugar.

3.39am - Apologies for returning to the theme of food yet again, but there is a clearly discernible sense of hunger in the hall.

The counters are hungry to finish and get home to their beds, the candidates are hungry for votes, the press are, well, just hungry.

The one thing I can say for sure is that we are still waiting for the turnout figure for Ilford South, which is bad news for those of us who value our sanity.

What is quite wonderful however, is that the food run to the 24-hour garage in Chadwell Heath is due to commence as soon as that figure is released!

It's quite incredible how attractive a drive to a 24-hour garage can be when you have been sitting in a town hall watching paper being stacked for the best part of six hours.

Whoever is chosen to go must surely buy a family sized bag of sweets to distribute to the valiant counters, who remain diligently at their posts, shuffling ballot papers from one side of their table to the other.

These are truly the unsung heroes and heroines of democracy.

3.18am - The counters have sprung back into life on the Ilford North tables as the votes for each candidate begin to be compiled.

The concentration levels and sheer resilience of these rows of public servants is quite incredible to behold - particularly as the candidates have suddenly been stirred from semi-unconscious states to lean over the tables in nervous anticipation once more.

Quite how someone can stay focused on making democracy work while a rosetted suit glares down at their every move is beyond me.

3.13am - A 65.2 per cent turnout has been announced in Ilford North.

This is up 5.2 per cent on 2005.

The total turnout for Ilford North today was 47,210.

3.10am - Ok, I admit it, I'm officially tired now.

This democracy thing better be worth it that's all I can say - and by the looks on the faces around me, I'm not alone in this opinion.

3.00pm - Salvation is in sight!

No, don't get too excited, I'm not talking about the count. Redbridge Council's head of communications has just told me he is going to do a food and drink run to the nearest all night garage in Chadwell Heath.

I've never seen so many happy faces in a press gallery.

As far as the turnout figure is concerned there is still no news. Although there are definitely more counters sitting without anything to do than there were half an hour ago.

One man has used his initiative by coming up with what appears to be an extraordinary new game using a rubber band.

Meanwhile Labour's Ilford South incumbent Mike Gapes has just marched back into the room with a cheerful look on his face.

Maybe he's heard about the rubber band game - or the garage run.

2.47am - Things are not looking good at Ilford Town Hall. At least not in the press gallery.

My colleagues and I are fading fast as our last caffeine hit wears off - but the counters below us continue to demonstrate incredible levels of endurance as they fold endless sheets of paper into neat white and yellow piles.

Some of the candidates are close to dozing off in the television room as the wait for the turnout figure for Ilford North goes on.

2.24am - Redbridge Council's chief executive Roger Hampson is the very picture of concern as he strides between piles of unopened ballot boxes in the middle of the Ilford South counting tables.

The news is much brighter on the Ilford North side of the room where a crack team of counters have bled the ballot boxes dry of voting slips - suggesting that an announcement on the turnout is imminent.

2.12am - Lib Dem candidate for Ilford North Alex Berhanu predicts a close run battle between Tory incumbent Lee Scott and Labour challenger Sonia Klein based on a snapshot of the votes coming in.

He said: "From what I have seen, and what my wife and agent have seen, it looks like it's between Lee and Sonia at the moment.

"I am just so humble for the number have people who have voted for me.

"The count seems to have been particularly slow here. I don't know why.

"Whatever happens I feel very much part of the community after this campaign."

1.51am - The count is still to get underway for Ilford North as verification is yet to be completed.

The likelihood is that the result will be announced later than expected - perhaps past 4am.

Weary press and candidates are currently tucked away in a conference room watching the results come in from across the UK on a big screen.

1.35am Prime Minister Gordon Brown increases his majority by nearly 5,000 votes as he is returned in his seat of Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath. First Conservative gain of the night in London as they win Battersea.

1.19am

First London result of the night in Putney where Conservative Justine Greening has retained the seat with a swing of 9.9 per cent from Labour.

1.18am - Lib Dem Roding ward councillor Ian Bond finally reveals the secret of his non-yellow rosette.

Cllr Bond has caused a stir during the count by sporting an orange rosette rather than the now standard Lib Dem yellow.

He said: "The rosette dates back to when I joined the party in the 80s.

"I suppose some people have a lucky tie - I have a lucky rosette.

"Things seem to be going ok for us.

"Thousands more people have registered to vote in Redbridge, including many young people, so we're hoping that will be good for us.

"We're hoping to pick up a few more council seats this year.

"Perhaps the best thing is that we've made a few people work for their seats when maybe they haven't had to in the past."

1.05am

First Conservative gain of the night from Kingswood in Gloucestershire, taken with a 9.4 per cent swing from Labour – enough to give David Cameron an overall majority. Rumours also emerging that the Tories have taken the bellweather seat of Basildon from Labour.

12.52pm - Caroline Allen, Green candidate for Ilford North, admits she is unlikely to taste victory tonight, but believes her party will leave its mark after standing for the seat for the first time ever this year.

She said: "We don't have anything like the budget of the other parties so we've not had the exposure they have.

"It is important people in Ilford North had the opportunity to vote Green."

When asked how she planned to stay awake as the count draws on into the early hours of the morning she said: "I'm running on adrenaline at the moment.

"We haven't come this far just to fade away now.

"I'll be keeping my eye on the Brighton Pavilian count though (where the Greens have a genuine chance of winning their first Parliamentary seat this year)."

12.20pm

Three results declared from around the country showing a swing of 8.2 per cent from Labour to the Conservatives.

If repeated in Ilford North, Lee Scott would be returned with a majority of 4,964.

12.19pm - A row of splendidly rosetted Lib Dem councillors are currently crowded into a far corner of the hall looking rather like a gang of prize bulls ready for inspection.

The Tories on the other hand are conspicuous by their absence, with cllrs Keith Prince and John Fairley-Churchill the only ones currently walking the floor.

12.15pm

Cllr Bond is looking on with an increasing air of anxiety as the ballot papers are gathered into neat piles ready for counting.

His rosette is causing quite a stir in the press gallery due to its suspiciously reddish colour.

I have asked permission to speak to him - seated as as we are in an auditorium overlooking the count - so hopefully an explanation will soon be forthcoming.

You would expect him to strike a calmer pose given the Lib Dems improved performance in recent national polls.

12.00pm - Tory candidate for Ilford North (and former MP) Lee Scott stopped for a chat with the Guardian about how he feels the evening is going for his campaign, and for his party nationally.

He said: "It was a difficult campaign this year, but I think it went well.

"Tonight feels different to last year, because I was a challenger then, but now I'm the incumbent.

"The exit polls suggest a hung Parliament with us holding most seats.

"I hope I will be given the chance to represent the people of this borough again because I've loved doing so for the past few years.

"One thing's for certain, it looks very unlikely that the Labour Party will form the next Government, which is a good thing for Britain."

11.29pm - Candidates and their supporters sporting rosettes look on anxiously as teams of counters wade through thousands of ballot papers on dozens of tables filling the hall.

Voting slips are currently being checked before the official count can begin in earnest.

Lib Dem Roding ward councillors Ian Bond and Felicity Banks and Tory council leader Keith Prince are among those currently keeping an eye on the count.

The official count is not due to begin for at least another hour.

10.37pm - Ilford Town Hall is abuzz with activity as dozens of ballot boxes are brought through the door into the building fresh from polling stations across the borough.

Teams of people are already busy emptying the containers of ballot papers and sorting through them to verify the number cast.

News of tonight's exit poll suggesting that we are headed towards a hung Parliament is adding to the sense of excitement on the floor of the count.

The first indication of how the results are going to pan out has been revealed with the publication of the nationwide BBC/ITV/Sky News exit poll. It is predicting a 5.5 per cent swing from Labour to the Conservatives overall which if repeated in Ilford North would see the Conservative’s Lee Scott returned with a majority up from the 1,653 he achieved in 2005 to 4,152 assuming the same turnout.

In 2005 the exit polls correctly predicted a reduced Labour majority, but in 1992 they wrongly predicted a hung Parliament when in fact John Major’s Conservatives were returned with an overall majority of 21.