General Election: first ballot box opened at Fife count centre - this is when results could be declared
The polls have closed and the counting is underway in the General Election.
Fife’s four constituencies will be counted at Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes, but results won;t be known for several hours yet. The first declaration is unlikely to come until around 2:00am, with the final one estimated anywhere around 4:00am.
The four constituencies are Glenrothes and Mid Fife, Dunfermline and Dollar, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, and North East Fife.
Ken Gourlay, Returning Officer, briefed the teams of counters before the first ballot box was opened in a traditional election night photo-call. The honour fell to Lindsay Thomson, Deputy Returning Officer.
All ballot boxes are expected to be at the count centre by 11:20pm when the verification process and the actual counting will get underway.
The first candidates have now arrived in the hall as the party’s scrutineers begin their assessment of the ballot papers being checked.