Election night: It’s all over bar the counting

Tonight is election night but there’s not much counting going on. The Corby by-election count doesn’t start until tomorrow morning and Wiltshire is the only place where the Police and Crime Commissioner votes are being tallied up over night. But we should get results in the next few hours in Manchester Central and Cardiff South, two safe Labour seats where the MP is standing down to run as a Police and Crime Commissioner.

Most of the media attention will focus on Corby. It is, indeed, a bellwether seat. But it is worth remembering that this is mid-term and a Tory defeat here would not tell us that much, especially given the circumstances of the by-election—constituencies don’t take kindly to MPs standing down half-way through their term.

The other big issue will be turnout in the PCC elections. The reports during the day have suggested turnout in the teens. But postal voting could push that up to a more respectable total.