What to expect on election night in Harrogate

As the polls are set to close, party faithful, journalists and political enthusiasts will flock to Harrogate Convention Centre this evening to see the curtain close on another general election.

In the early hours of Friday morning, candidates in Harrogate and Knaresborough, Skipton and Ripon and Wetherby and Easingwold will learn their fate.

The Stray Ferret will be at the convention centre to bring you results and coverage from all three seats throughout the night.

Here is what to expect from election night in the Harrogate district.

What to expect

When the clock strikes 10pm, we can expect the publication of the BBC exit poll which will predict the make up of the political parties in the House of Commons.

From there, political party aides and candidates will either be smiling from ear to ear or looking somewhat despondent.

The count at the convention centre will then begin in earnest as the ballot boxes arrive.

Three separate constituencies will be declared in Harrogate on Friday morning.

It is expected that Harrogate and Knaresborough will be started first, with a declaration expected sometime around 2am.

The Wetherby and Easingwold seat will be counted afterwards.

Meanwhile, Skipton and Ripon could come around the same time as Harrogate and Knaresborough.

However, the declarations are liable to delays in ballot box deliveries and recount requests on behalf of candidates should a count come down to the wire.

What is on the line?

All three constituencies in the Harrogate district could change hands come Friday morning.

The Liberal Democrats have targeted Harrogate and Knaresborough as a target seat and are hoping to win it for the first time since losing the constituency in 2010.

Andrew Jones, the Conservative candidate, will be looking to make it five election victories in a row.

A final Survation MRP poll published this week predicted that Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate, is on course to win the seat with 41.5% vote share.

Meanwhile, Julian Smith, the Conservative candidate in Skipton and Ripon, will be aiming to stave off a contest from Labour to hang onto the constituency.

Mr Smith, who has a majority of 23,694, first won the seat in 2010.

However, the polls have predicted a tight contest between Labour and the Conservatives in the seat.

An even closer election is expected in the newly created Wetherby and Easingwold constituency.

The seat includes areas such as Boroughbridge, Sporfforth and Follifoot in the Harrogate district.

According to Survation, Labour are predicted to take the seat with a margin of 0.2% vote share. However, previous polls have estimated a Tory victory.

Regardless, the contest is expected to come down to the wire in the early hours of Friday morning.

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