06:40
After a very long wait, we can confirm that Alex Chalk has kept Cheltenham for the Conservatives, with a majority of 981.
That concludes our coverage; whether you’ve been with us all night or simply checked the live blog periodically, thank you.
05:26
From Lou:
04:58
Laurence Robertson has kept Tewkesbury for the Conservatives, with a majority of 22,410.
04:41
There’s been another recount at Cheltenham, meaning another delay to the declaration.
04:32
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has kept the Cotswolds for the Conservatives, with a majority of 20,214.
04:15
All of the Cheltenham candidates are now at the count, so the result could be just minutes away.
03:59
From Richard Graham’s victory speech:
“It looks as if it is going to be a significant result for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and everything he’s campaigned for. I do believe the British people want to see the whole issue of our relationship with the European Union resolved, but they also want us to move on to the issues which, for the people of Gloucester, are even more important to their individual lives. And that is our task as Conservatives: to work with everybody from all parties, all organisations and charities to make sure that we continue to be a caring, passionate, team of people who want to make our city the best small city in Britain.”
03:45
The Cheltenham turnout has been announced as 73.43 per cent, an increase of 1.13 per cent from 2017. Results are “imminent”, apparently.
03:42
While addressing the Stroud count, Green candidate Molly Scott Cato was heckled by Labour supporters who accused her of denying them victory by splitting the vote. Scott Cato responded by saying “I hope the Labour party will be able to respect democracy and the voters’ choice.”
03:38
In her winning speech, Baillie said she was “incredibly honoured” to be elected and that the national exit poll represented “a complete rejection of any more faffing around and more squabbling and debating about what should happen next”.
03:27
The Cheltenham result is being recounted, so the declaration has been pushed back slightly.
03:22
Cheltenham result looking imminent, according to BBC Points West’s Steve Knibbs.
03:18
Siobhan Baillie has gained Stroud for the Conservatives, with a majority of 3,840.
03:17
Mark Harper has kept the Forest of Dean for the Conservatives, with a majority of 15,869.
03:11
The first of the Gloucestershire results is in – Richard Graham has kept Gloucester for the Conservatives, with a majority of 10,277 (almost double his 2017 majority).
03:00
We might be getting the Stroud result before long, if this tweet from Alice Knight is anything to go by.
02:53
Arriving at the Gloucester count, Labour candidate Fran Boait described the exit poll as “really disappointing”, saying: “We were hoping to stem the Conservative majority but it looks like that will now be comfortable. They have played a divisive strategy, and that is what has won Gloucester.”
02:49
We’re now set to get the Gloucester result sometime in the next 10 minutes – the declaration was initially forecast for 3:30.
02:41
Martin Horwood, Lib Dem MEP and former MP for Cheltenham, described the constituency vote as a “very tight race” but insisted they would retake the seat.
Speaking to Paul Sutton at the Cheltenham count, he said: “We’ve worked very, very hard, we’ve got a superb candidate in Max Wilkinson, and we’ve fought a very good campaign, we think, on local issues but also referencing the national picture as well. And that combination is pretty good and we’ve had lots of help, so we should win.”
02:34
The Cheltenham results might be out later than originally expected – officials at the count expect they will have counted all the votes and declared the results “in less than an hour’s time”, according to Gloucestershire Live.
02:21
From Megu Jones:
02:19
Joe Kennett has spoken to Baillie:
02:18
With around 15 minutes left until the Cheltenham results are due out, here are a few facts about the constituency:
- Held from 1992 to 2015 by the Lib Dems; represented first by Nigel Jones and then by Martin Horwood
- Taken in 2015 by the Conservatives; represented by Alex Chalk
- Chalk’s majority reduced from 6,516 to 2,569 in 2017
- Predicted to be retaken by the Lib Dems; would be represented by Max Wilkinson
01:56
Siobhan Baillie, Conservative candidate for Stroud tipped to defeat Labour incumbent David Drew, has arrived at the count. If elected, she would be Stroud’s first ever female MP.
01:54
The Tewkesbury turnout has been announced as 73.15 per cent (61,401 verified ballot papers), an increase of 0.65 per cent from 2017.
01:46
Richard Graham, Conservative candidate for Gloucester, has arrived at the count. He’s said that despite a promising exit poll for his party, “we don’t know what will happen closer to home in Stroud and Cheltenham.”
Graham said the exit poll represents a rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and approach to politics: “I never thought that Gloucester was Corbyn’s city.”
01:36
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative candidate for the Cotswolds, said his party’s “Get Brexit Done” message worked in their favour, particularly in reaching out to Leave-voting Labour seats in the North. He also highlighted their promises of funding for healthcare and education.
01:21
Chris McFarling, Green candidate for the Forest of Dean, described the exit poll as “catastrophic”, saying he will “never forgive” the Conservatives if they fail to act on the climate crisis.
01:09
The Stroud turnout has been announced as 78.2 per cent, an increase of 1.2 per cent from 2017.
01:03
Megan Price has just done a short bulletin on Tone. Calling in from the Cheltenham count was Paul Sutton, who has spoken to Ridgeon and Penny (see below for the latter’s comments).
00:55
Adjudication has begun at the Stroud count.
00:53
An interesting observation from my predecessor Will Luker:
00:51
From Lou de Freitas:
00:43
The Gloucester turnout has been announced as 66.4 per cent (53,964 verified ballot papers), an increase of just over 1 per cent since 2017.
00:37
Molly Scott Cato, Green candidate for Stroud, is at the count.
00:25
Speaking to Paul Sutton, Penny said this: “If this exit poll is right, it represents an historic rebalancing in the political landscape of this country, but I think what is looking clear is that we’re not going to see a Labour government at the end of tonight.”
00:19
Labour candidate David Drew is at the Stroud count.
00:04
There’s been a scene outside the Cotswolds count:
23:50
George Ridgeon, Monster Raving Loony Party candidate for Cheltenham, has said he isn’t confident of getting his deposit back, saying “The exit poll at the last election was pretty accurate.”
23:38
George Penny, Labour candidate for Cheltenham, described the exit poll as “very dramatic” and said “We’ll see how it unfolds as the night goes on.”
“If it’s right, we’re seeing a shift in the political landscape in this country,” he said. “But we have to be cautious.”
Alan MacKenzie, Labour candidate for the Cotswolds, called the exit poll “disappointing” but stressed that it was not the whole picture, saying “We just have to wait and see the rest of the results.” He put the Conservatives’ predicted success down to their focusing on Brexit over and above issues such as the NHS, social care and public services.
23:23
The Cheltenham count was disrupted when a fire alarm went off, but this was declared to be a false alarm.
23:16
The BBC has released seat-by-seat predictions based on the exit polls. Here are those for Gloucestershire:
- Cheltenham: 92% chance of Lib Dem gain
- Gloucester: 99+% chance of Con hold
- Stroud: 86% chance of Con gain
- Tewkesbury: 99+% chance of Con hold
- Forest of Dean: 99+% chance of Con hold
- Cotswolds: 99+% chance of Con hold
23:08
Sam Bartlett, Jaimie Redgwick, Charlie Fox and Adam Budd have been breaking down the national exit poll live on Tone. Here are some of their key points:
- Only 191 seats for Labour, presumably because of distrust in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership
- Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson could be on track to lose her seat (East Dunbartonshire), as could former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab (Esher & Walton)
- 55 seats for the SNP, which could mean another Scottish independence referendum in the not too distant future
- Sunderland and Newcastle set to be among the first seats to release their results
- The pound has risen to its highest since Theresa May’s premiership, due to the economic certainty that a majority would bring
- Many dogs have been sighted at polling stations – if you’ve seen any, be sure to tweet them to us at @uoguniversal
Sam and Jaimie are both Tone committee members, while Charlie and Adam are co-hosts of the Life Sucks And Here’s Why podcast along with Paul Sutton.
22:57
The counts in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud are well underway.
22:39
Third-year journalism students Joe Kennett (also Tone’s assistant station manager) and Megu Jones are at the Stroud count, where they’ll be filming for Sky News. Our reporters Alice Knight and Ulani Seaman are also there.
22:31
Our entertainment editor Phoebe Nott has arrived at Oxstalls Sports Park to cover the Gloucester count, along with third-year journalism students Phoebe Sargesson Jones and Malin Jones.
22:28
The Tewkesbury count is underway.
22:24
The first ballot box has arrived at the Cheltenham count, at Leisure in Cheltenham – but it could be much later in the evening before the ballot papers are verified.
Our reporters Lou de Freitas and Bea Souza are at the count along with Paul Sutton, Tone’s head of news – we’ll pass on anything they share.
22:10
The national exit poll has been released and suggests a Conservative majority of 86; the Gloucestershire exit polls still have yet to be released.
21:40
Things are still fairly quiet at the polling stations; we will let you know the exit polls as soon as they come out. In the meantime, here’s what some of the Gloucestershire candidates have been tweeting today:
20:30
Hello and welcome to our live blog of the 2019 general election results in Gloucestershire. I’ll be here throughout the night curating updates primarily from our live reporters and from Tone Radio, the university’s student radio station, who are also covering the results.
Some background on the Gloucestershire seats:
- Cheltenham: marginal seat represented since 2015 by Alex Chalk (Con), whose majority stands at 2,569. Likely Lib Dem gain (they finished a close second in 2017).
- Gloucester: represented since 2010 by Richard Graham (Con), whose majority stands at 5,520. Held from 1997 to 2010 by Labour, who finished second in 2017.
- Stroud: somewhat marginal seat represented since 2017 by David Drew (Lab), whose majority stands at just 687. Likely Conservative gain (they finished a close second in 2017).
- Tewkesbury: very safe seat held since 1997 by Laurence Robinson (Con), majority 22,574.
- Forest of Dean: held since 2001 by Mark Harper (Con), who contested the party leadership earlier this year – majority 9,502.
- Cotswolds: very safe seat held since its creation in 1997 by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Con), majority 25,499.
Below are some infographics of the 2017 results for each seat.
We hope to begin our coverage in around half an hour’s time, so stay tuned.
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