Peterborough election results coverage

Labour takes North West Cambridgeshire from Conservatives Conservative Shailesh Vara has lost his seat - which he has held for nearly 20 years - to Labour candidate Sam Carling, by 39 votes.

Mr Carling, who is 22, will become one of the youngest MPs in the House of Commons.

Labour: 14,785

Conservatives: 14,746

Reform UK: 8,741

Liberal Democrat: 3,192

Green Party: 2,960

'We have made real mistakes nationally' Paul Bristow, the Conservative candidate for Peterborough and the seat's former MP, has apologised to supporters for his loss.

Mr Bristow said: "We have made real mistakes nationally- and those responsible for these mistakes should ask themselves serious questions on their responsibility in all of this.

"I hope they will apologise to MPs and candidates who lost. And if they do, then they can have a role in rebuilding the party.

Recount called for North West Cambridgeshire In the last few minutes a recount has been called for North West Cambridgeshire.

We have been told it is "very close" between Labour and Conservatives again with a difference of "very few votes".

It is believed the recount was called by defending MP Shailesh Vara.

We have been told the results of both the recounts are expected after 05:00.

Full recount announced for Peterborough A full recount has been called for Peterborough in the last few minutes.

It was announced after the entry of Paul Bristow and it is believed that he called for it.

Labour and Conservative supporters told the BBC that the result was looking very close between the two parties.

We should have a result later this morning.

There is no update on the result for North West Cambridgeshire yet.

Paul Bristow arrives We are still waiting on the announcement of the results in Peterborough.

Paul Bristow, the Conservative candidate and defending MP, has arrived alongside his wife.

Candidates are currently going through what is known as a "bundle flick" - which means checking all the ballot papers are in the right bundle.

There are murmurs that there could be a recount and it is looking close between Labour and the Conservative Party.

Candidates inspect rejected votesShariqua Ahmed BBC News, Peterborough

We have been told the results for Peterborough should be announced soon.

Candidates have been called to inspect the rejected votes.

There is still no sign of of the Conservative parliamentary candidate Paul Bristow, who is defending the seat. His supporters have said he should be at the count soon.

†̃Swing taking place emphatically tonightâ€TM Shailesh Vara, the Conservative candidate for North West Cambridgeshire, has arrived at the count with his wife.

He is defending the seat, which he has held for nearly 20 years.

Mr Vara told the BBC: "There has been a lot of conversations [with] frustrated Conservatives. Some I have been able to win around again, and others have decided to think on it so we will find out soon.

"I have been blessed to have [had] 20 years of service. Itâ€TMs been a privilege and I hope I can continue but the pendulum of democracy does swing and that swing [is] taking place quite emphatically tonight."

When asked he did not want to comment on who he thinks is responsible for the Tory losses.

Andrew Pakes arrives at the countShariqua Ahmed BBC News, Peterborough

Andrew Pakes, the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Peterborough, has just arrived at the count.

He has been chatting and sharing a laugh with Peterboroughâ€TMs Labour city councillors and party supporters, all of who look hopeful.

He told the BBC he will not be making any comment until the results have been declared.

Candidates such as Nicola Day from the Green Party, Amjad Hussain of the Workers Party and Nick Sandford of Liberal Democrats, have already arrived.

Paul Bristow, the Conservative candidate who is defending his seat, is yet to arrive at the count.

Count now starting The total turnout for Peterborough including the postal votes has now been confirmed as 57.27%.

In total 113 ballot boxes were received on Thursday night, including 46 for Peterborough. All the votes [42, 021] have now been verified and count has officially started in the KingsGate Centre.

The BBC has been told that the count for North West Cambridgeshire constituency is expected to begin soon. A total of 67 ballot boxes were received from this region.

North West Cambridgeshire boxes arrive Ballot boxes from North West Cambridgeshire have started to arrive at KingsGate Centre.

The total turnout for the constituency was recorded at 52.79%.

Supporters of Shailesh Vara, the Conservative parliamentary candidate who is defending the seat, said that he was feeling "buoyant".

Supporters of Labour's parliamentary candidate, Sam Carling - who is 22 - said that the atmosphere was "buzzing on the doorstep", but they could not predict anything.

'Going to be close' More ballot boxes are coming into the count venue, which is situated in the Parnwell area of Peterborough.

The final turnout for Peterborough, excluding postal votes, has been recorded as 51.77%.

The count has been set up in the main auditorium in the KingsGate Conference Centre, with dozens of counters ready to start verifying the ballot papers.

Wayne Fitzgerald, the leader of the Conservatives Party at Peterborough City Council and a councillor for the West ward, said he does not have a clue of how the result will go, but remains "optimistic".

"The electorate knows best," he added.

Dennis Jones, Peterborough City Council's Labour leader and councillor for the Dogsthorpe Ward, said: "It is going to be close.

"The optimist in me thinks we will edge it. Peterborough has never been a safe seat for any party. But I am hoping this time around we go with what's predicted of the Labour landslide. So let's hope for a similar result in Peterborough."

The candidates are yet to arrive for the count.

Peterborough: Your issues debated During the election campaign the BBC has been asking you what really matters in your community.

Some of these issues, which included immigration, net zero, access to dental care and investment in Peterborough city centre, were put to the politicians standing in the city's constituency.

The debate has been condensed into six key takeaways here .

You can find a full list of all the candidates standing in Peterborough here .

Who won in the last election? In 2019, Conservative Paul Bristow (pictured, middle) took back control of Peterborough from Labour with 46.7% of the vote, beating the Labour candidate Lisa Forbes who got 41.3% of votes.

The Liberal Democrats got 4.9%, the Brexit Party 4.4%, the Greens 1.5%, and it was 1% for Independents and other parties.

In North West Cambridgeshire, Conservative Shailesh Vara retained his seat with a comfortable 62.5% of votes, followed by Labour with 22.2%, Liberal Democrats at 10.7% and Greens at 4.7%.

The Peterborough campaignKate Moser Andon BBC political reporter, Peterborough

Campaigning in the city's been a tale of two halves.

North West Cambridgeshire, which covers the Peterborough suburbs south of the River Nene and villages to the west and south of the city, is a largely rural constituency where the Conservatives are hoping to capitalise on historical support.

Peterborough, which covers the city north of the Nene and villages to the north east including Newborough, Eye and Thorney, has a smaller Tory majority and Labour has been campaigning hard to make gains here.

The Workers Party of Britain will be hoping to woo Labour voters in Peterborough.

Reform UK has candidates in both of the city's constituencies, and gained a decent share of the votes when the Brexit Party ran in Peterborough in 2019.

What were the key issues in Peterborough?Kate Moser Andon Cambridgeshire political reporter

Many people I've spoken to say the city's suffered in recent years from shop closures and losing facilities like its regional pool.

The ultra-modern ARU Peterborough university is the city's good news story, and so is a successful £23m Towns Fund money bid to regenerate the city centre.

There are questions over whether the plans will include the Great Northern Hotel, the Victorian building you see as you step out of Peterborough station, that was recently used to accommodate asylum seekers.

There is frustration about empty units in Queensgate shopping centre and Westgate Arcade, especially since the John Lewis permanently closed.

Elsewhere, speedway fans are mourning the loss of the track used by the Peterborough Panthers, with the showground now earmarked for redevelopment.

As with many other areas, access to healthcare is a key issue. Peterborough's been described as a "dental desert" with reports of people travelling long distances to get affordable dental care.