General election 2024: Live election results from Eastleigh

If you're just joining us, Eastleigh has been won by the Liberal Democrats, unseating the Conservatives.

You can scroll back to recap how it happened.

We'll be closing this live blog now, but there will be ongoing coverage from the national picture and reaction to the results across Hampshire over on our main blog here.

Here's the change in result on 2019 for Eastleigh.

The Conservative vote has dropped a massive 20 per cent, with Reform benefitting.

Live tracker

Live map of results

This is the result in Eastleigh - a gain for the Liberal Democrats.

This is the moment the Lib Dems won Eastleigh from the Conservatives

The declaration of the result for the #Eastleigh constituency by Returning Officer, ⁦@strachan_j⁩ pic.twitter.com/t3en0IErme

— Eastleigh Borough Council (@EastleighBC) July 5, 2024

We'll be hearing from Eastleigh's new Lib Dem MP shortly.

Full votes:

• Liz Jarvis (LDM) - 15,970
• Sam Joynson (CON) - 14,424
• Daniel Shearer (LAB) - 7,005
• Clare Fawcett (RFM) - 6,151
• Ben Parry (GRN) - 2,403
• Russ Kitching (IND) - 467

Lib Dem candidate Liz Jarvis will be the new MP for Eastleigh, defeating Conservative Sam Joynson.

BREAKING: Liberal Democrats have GAINED Eastleigh from the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats have won the seat in Eastleigh, it has been confirmed.

In her acceptance speech, Liz Jarvis thanked her supporters and vowed that she would fight for every one of her constituents.

Picture speaks a thousand words. A very clear enthusiasm from Liberal Democrats pic.twitter.com/3vyYwkWubJ

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 5, 2024

Liberal Democrat candidate Liz Jarvis was welcomed with applause in Eastleigh as the exit polls suggest a 99 per cent chance of victory for the Lib Dems. All smiles from the Lib Dem camp with some even being emotional as Ms Jarvis arrived.

Liz Jarvis Lib Dem candidate being welcomed by her supporters at Places Leisure. Exit polls show a 99% chance of a win for LD pic.twitter.com/w6O6Auck1d

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 5, 2024

Lib Dem members huddle in Eastleigh… pic.twitter.com/w1ilfVWFUg

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 5, 2024

The count is happening now at Eastleigh with the parties being assigned parties tables.

Our 46,000 ballots received

Returning officer James Strachan has now announced that 46,550 ballots have been received. Of these 14,407 were postal votes.

The voter turnout figure was 66.5%

Verification taking place pic.twitter.com/9G1QqgP6N7

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 4, 2024

Many people here at the count have brought their own snacks. Many packets of crisps, Haribos and even cheese & crackers.

It has been called that Blyth and Ashington constituency will go for Labour.

According to the exit poll, there is a 99 per cent chance that the Liberal Democrats will win the Eastleigh contingency.

Here is a map of the seats declared so far, Houghton and Sunderland South, being the first one.

'Too early to call'

Conservative Party Candidate Sam Joynson, who is running to replace the current Conservative MP Paul Holmes gave his reaction to the exit poll.

He told the Echo: "I think it’s extremely early in the night and we’ll see how the results come in.

"My personal view with that national picture is that the Eastleigh seat could go either way, there have been polls which suggest that we hold it with just 75, and there are polls where we lose it with 140. I think this is going to be one of the most interesting counts in the country and we could be in for a very late night.

He added: "I think the Eastleigh seat is so interesting because there’s a dichotomy of concerns in respect of the national issues and the local issues.

"The national issues being things such as the NHS and the state of the schools and locally people are very concerned with Eastleigh Borough Council which has been led by Liberal Democrats for 25 years and I think total liability is almost one billion pounds.

"I personally as a candidate and everyone in the night do not know how that intersects."

Now things have settled down slightly, let's bring you up to speed with the Echo's coverage this evening.

In Southampton, digital editor Ryan Evans and senior reporter Tim Edgley are monitoring the counts for Southampton Test and Southampton Itchen. You can follow coverage here.

In Eastleigh, we have senior reporter Jose Ramos on hand, with the exit poll suggesting it could flip to the Liberal Democrats. Follow coverage from that count here.

In the New Forest, chief reporter Chris Yandell will keep you up to date with what's going on at the New Forest East and New Forest West counts. Follow his coverage here.

Up in Romsey, Toby Oliver is at the count of the Romsey & Southampton North seat. You can follow his coverage here.

Meanwhile, over in Fareham, Ross Marshall is monitoring Fareham & Waterlooville, where Suella Braverman is hoping for re-election, and Hamble Valley, a new constituency. Follow here.

And we have local democracy reporter Natalia Forero in position in Gosport - follow here.

The exit poll

Ballot boxes have now arrived at Leisure Places. pic.twitter.com/plBZfESE1h

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 4, 2024

Returning officer James Strachan has now said that verification of the ballots is now taking place.

James Strachan, the returning officer, earlier stepped on the stage and thanked everyone for taking part in the process.

The postal votes have now started to come in at Eastleigh's Leisure Centre. 

Labour landslide

The exit polls are showing a Labour landslide, with Keir Starmer's party having 410 seats, while the Conservatives are left with 131 seats.

I’m at Places Leisure in Eastleigh where the counting will take place this evening. @dailyecho pic.twitter.com/lokhGaZez5

— Jose Ramos (@Journo_Jose) July 4, 2024

Less than 10 minutes to go...

We are live from Places Leisure where the first ballots are due to arrive between 10.10pm and 10.40pm this evening.

Tables have been set up where the counting will take place. The polls will close in less than 10 minutes now.

Polls close at 10pm

Polls for the general election close at 10pm - but don't worry, as long as you're in the queue by that time, you'll still be able to cast your vote.

You can read more about that here.

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of general election night here in Eastleigh.

Polls will close in a little over an hour, and we'll have all the twists and turns as the results come in throughout the night.

Whether you're staying up all night, or dipping in and out in between sleep, our team of reporters will bring you all the reaction as Hampshire elects its new MPs.

We'll also be keeping you up to date with the national picture, with all the major news stories as the night unfolds.