All-night guide to the General Election: Where, when and how to watch

Welcome to The Boar‘s all-nighter guide to the General Election results. Read on for a timeline of the night, including information on where you can follow the coverage, what the polls have predicted and when seats will be declared.

9.30pm: Round up the troops

Time to gather the troops and head somewhere with a working TV license. David Dimbleby will be hosting his tenth and last overnight electoral broadcast on the BBC, but if even that doesn’t convince your mates to stay up with you, try bribing them with our exciting election night drinking game (stay tuned).

Where to watch:

• RADIO AT WARWICK (RaW), 10pm: stream it live from the website or come chat to us in the SUHQ. Presented by Henry Riley, the first set of panellists includes Labour youth officer Felix Ling, Nathan Veall and The Boar editor-in-chief Clara Vazquez Paniago. From 4am onwards the dedicated Calum Sinclair, Robert Myers of Politics Society and News editor Daniel Ruben will take the chairs. Expect coverage on Facebook live every half hour along with behind-the-scenes interviews. Follow us on Twitter at #warwickvotes.
• BBC ONE, 9.55pm: hosted by David Dimbleby until 6am, when Huw Edwards takes the reigns. Also featuring Jeremy Vine, Mishal Husain, Emily Maitlis, John Curtis and political editor Laura Kuenssberg. Continues until 1pm, then from 2pm on BBC Two.
• CHANNEL 4, 9.45pm: hosted by Jeremy Paxman, Richard Osman and comedian David Mitchell. Also featuring the cast of Gogglebox.
• SKY NEWS, 9pm: hosted by Adam Boulton and Sophy Ridge with rolling coverage on Snapchat from 10pm. Also featuring Plymouth professor Michael Thrasher and Dermot Murnaghan.

However, since the results won’t be coming in for a while, now’s the time to stock up on popcorn and beverages of choice; coffee, vodka etc.

10pm: Exit polls revealed

The joint BBC, ITV and Sky exit poll is released, accounting for 144 polling stations across the country. Exit poll predictions have correctly predicted the outcome for the last five general elections. In 2005 and 2010, they came very close to predicting the exact number of seats won by the individual parties.

However, when the 2015 BBC exit poll predicted that the Conservatives would remain the largest party, this was widely disbelieved. Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Paddy Ashdown famously promised to eat his hat if they were correct.

He eventually ate a hat made out of marzipan on Question Time. All bets off?

By midnight: Sunderland declares

Sunderland’s three safe Labour constituencies are traditionally the first to declare. However, bitter derby rivals in Newcastle hope to beat them to it, breaking a 25-year streak.

Probably a good time to go to the loo before the exciting stuff starts happening.

1am: Nuneaton declares

Nuneaton is the first marginal seat to declare. Conservative candidate Marcus Jones defends a majority of 4,882. YouGov, which has controversially predicted a hung parliament outcome, estimates a right lean.

1.30am: Labour heartlands

Conservative gains in Darlington and Wrexham could indicate a good night for the party. YouGov has predicted Labour holds.

2am: Amber Rudd and Kenilworth

Home secretary Amber Rudd’s seat of Hastings and Rye could be taken by Labour, as YouGov predicts. Conservative marginals Bury North, Peterborough and Thurrock are set to declare. Labour’s Clwyd South faces a Tory challenge.

Kenilworth and Southam, where many Warwick students live both on and off-campus, is expected to remain a safe Conservative hold.

2.30am: Jeremy Corbyn

Islington North is expected to re-elect the Labour leader by an easy margin. While Warwickshire North is an expected Conservative hold, Vale of Clwyd could lean Labour.

3am: The Warwick vote

The SNP could lose Dunbartonshire East to the Lib Dems, while in Moray SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson faces a likely lean to the Conservatives. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron’s seat Westmorland and Londsdale is expected to declare.

Coventry’s three constituency results (counted at Ricoh Arena) are due about now. As the university campus sits on the boundary line between Coventry South and Kenilworth, this is where many student votes will be counted; Labour’s Jim Cunningham is expected to keep his seat despite opposition from the Conservatives’ Michelle Lowe. Meanwhile, in Warwick and Leamington, the results could see Labour’s Matt Western unseat Conservative candidate Chris White for the first time since 2010.

4am: West Midlands Labour seats could turn blue

A Tory surge could swing three tight Labour seats in the West Midlands: Birmingham Northfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Walsall North. Labour hopes to win back Gower, which went Conservative in 2015 by only 27 votes.

Former London mayor hopeful Zac Goldsmith (Conservative) will try and win back Richmond Park from the Lib Dems, while former cabinet minister Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat) appears likely to return to his old seat in Twickenham.

4.30am: Clegg and May

Theresa May expects an easy victory in Maidenhead, while former Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg faces a strong Labour opposition in Sheffield Hallam. Labour marginals Blackpool South and Wolverhampton South West see challenges from the Conservatives.

5am: UKIP leader hopes to oust Conservatives

UKIP leader Paul Nuttall competes to win Boston and Skegness from the Conservatives. However, YouGov has estimated UKIP support at 12%, predicting a safe Tory hold.

5.30am: Last of the Labour South

Labour appears set to keep Hove, one of its few remaining seats in south-east England.

6am: Green hold

Party leader Caroline Lucas expects to see re-election in Brighton Pavillion, the Greens’ only parliamentary seat. Meanwhile, Labour hopes to break the Tory’s 41-vote majority in Derby North.

7am: Still awake? You trooper.

Labour attempts to win back Morley and Outwood, formerly the seat of former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, back when Ed Miliband’s bacon sandwich was still a thing.

Meanwhile, Craig Mackinlay hopes to be re-elected in South Thanet, despite charges over campaign spending during the 2015 campaign when he won over former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who will not be contesting in this election.

By noon: Naptime

The final seats, Berwick-upon-Tweed (likely Conservative), Blyth Valley (likely Labour) and Wansbeck (safe Labour hold) should be declared by now and several important people may have resigned.

Congratulations! It’s all over. Time to go drown your sorrows, celebrate in style or just sigh wistfully into the distance, depending on what exactly you were hoping to get out of tonight. At least we won’t have go through all this election business again until — oh, wait.