United Kingdom general election, 2005

The ballot

At the close of voting (2200 BST) the ballot boxes are sealed and returned to the counting centre where counting proceeds under the supervision of the returning officer who is obliged to declare the result as soon as it is known. There has been stiff competition amongst constituencies to be first to declare. Sunderland South has repeated its performance in the last three elections and in 2005 declared Labour incumbent Chris Mullin re-elected as MP with a majority of 11,059 at approximately 2245 BST (failing by two minutes to beat its previous best, but making it eligible for entry into the Guinness Book of World Records as longest consecutive delivery of first results). The vote itself represented a swing (in a safe Labour seat, in a safe Labour region) of approximately 4% to the Conservatives and 4.5% to the Liberal Democrats. This was somewhat below the prediction of BBC/ITV exit polls published shortly after 2200 BST.

Related Topics:
BST - Returning officer - Sunderland South - Chris Mullin - Guinness Book of World Records

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Sunderland North were the next to declare, followed by Houghton & Washington East, both Labour holds but with reductions in the incumbent majorities of up to 9%. The first Scottish seat to declare was Rutherglen and Hamilton West — another safe Labour seat, it too was a hold, but with a reduced majority by 4%. The first seat to change hands was Putney, where Labour's majority of around 2500 fell to a strong Conservative challenge, with a total swing of about 5000 (or 6.2%). This was also the first seat to be declared for the Conservatives. The first Liberal Democrat seat to be declared was North East Fife, the constituency of LibDem party deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell and a hold from 2001.

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