Election results night 2024: Your essential guide

Boris Johnson won a string of seats in traditional Labour heartlands in the Midlands and northern England in 2019 on a promise to “get Brexit done”.

Watch out for places like Bolsover, West Bromwich and Hartlepool.

They’ll start to give us a sense of whether the Conservatives have held on to these so-called red wall constituencies or whether Labour has won them back.

If you’re reading this shortly after polls close and wondering what time to wake up in order to see the big moments, this would be a good time to set your alarm for.

According to BBC polling guru Prof Sir John Curtice, an eventual result could be forecast by broadcasters around this time in the event of a landslide. It wouldn’t be official – it would just mean that based on the results so far, the BBC and others might feel confident enough to “call it”.

Between 02:30 and 03:00, we’re expecting the pace of declarations to really pick up – so if you’ve got to get up for work soon, walk away now while you still can.

Watch for Na h-Eileanan an Iar – this island constituency off Scotland’s west coast might have the smallest population of any in the UK, but it will give us an early sign of whether Labour are breaking through north of the border.

In Northern Ireland, the performance of the DUP could be the story of the night.

Party leader Gavin Robinson is facing a strong challenge from Naomi Long, the leader of the Alliance Party, in Belfast East, while in South Antrim, the Ulster Unionist Party thinks it has a good chance of returning to Westminster by beating the DUP.

The DUP is also under pressure from Alliance in Lagan Valley, which is the seat formerly held by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson – who resigned as DUP leader earlier this year when he was charged with historical sex offences, which he denies. That result is due a bit later.