UK General Election - Bolton Election Count

So last night was another first for me; not as Counting Agent (as I'd done that before) but attending the Count for a UK General Election.

This ran in the same fashion as the European Elections Earlier this year. However this time I was here as part of the Brexit Party. My good friend Trevor Jones was standing as Parliamentary Candidate for Bolton North East. You will already know this and all about him if you read my last blog post.

Trevor, as the candidate, was allowed to have a number of Counting Agents. Our job was to watch the people who were sorting and counting the ballot papers and make sure that any mistakes were rectified. Now, each party has these Counting Agents and it was quite a busy affair; all jostling for positions in front of the people counting.

At just past 10 pm the verification of Postal Votes Started. This was opening them and sorting them neatly into piles and counting how many postal votes there were. This was before any boxes arrived from polling stations.

As Counting Agents we could get a glimpse of the Crosses on the ballots and get an indication of whos got more. I was stood by the Astley Bridge ward table and a photographer for the Manchester Eevene News took my photo as I was watching the verification part of the vote-counting

Both Labour and Conservative Counting agents had forms which they tallied-up votes for different parties so that they could get an idea of how many votes were going to who and from which electoral ward. I didn't need a tally chart to see that Trevor wasn't getting as many votes as Labour and Conservatives and I felt a bit disheartened.

As boxes arrived from all the different polling stations across Bolton now came the actual head-to-head part. Counters feverishly sorting candidates ballots into trays. the counting agents and candidates walked around the various tables, of the different wards in Bolton. As Trevor was Bolton North East candidate I hung around those tablets mainly.

It's really a great experience to see votes being counted - although really strange when it looks like things aren't going your Party's way; still an electric atmosphere.

The Brexit party didn't do as well as hoped, however without Trevor, we would still maybe have had Labour in control in Bolton North East.

Bolton North East

Conservative GAIN
David Crausby, Labour – 19,381
Warren Fox, Liberal Democrats – 1,847
Trevor Jones, Brexit Party – 1,880
Mark Logan, Conservative – 19,759
Liz Spencer, Green Party – 689

Bolton South East

Labour HOLD
Mark Cunningham, Brexit Party – 2,968
David Figgins, Green Party – 791
Johno Lee, Conservative – 13,918
Yasmin Qureshi, Labour – 21,516
Kev Walsh, Liberal Democrats - 1,411

Bolton West

Conservative HOLD
Rebecca Forrest, Liberal Democrats - 2,704
Chris Green, Conservative - 27,255
Paris Hayes, Green Party - 939
Julie Hilling, Labour - 18,400