General Election 2024: Who won the race to declare first?

The first boxes arriving at the count in Sunderland. Credit: NCJ Media

The North East has become famous for being the first to declare a result in the general election.

Houghton and Sunderland South claimed the honours this time around - announcing their result at 11:13pm.

It is not the quickest a result has been declared - that was back in 2001, when the old Sunderland South constituency announced at 10:43pm.

This time around, Labour's Bridget Phillipson won with 18,837 votes - a majority of 7,215.

Reform candidate Sam Woods-Brass came in second, with 11,668 votes.

The second constituency to declare was also in the North East - Blyth and Ashington at 11:31pm.

Newcastle Central was the first result announced at the last two general elections but the council had previously ruled out getting into the race due to boundary changes.

For the six general elections from 1992 to 2015, Sunderland’s slick operation saw them declare their result first – becoming part of the election night TV tradition.

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