Politics: EXIT POLLS SAY IT'S GOING TO BE A HUNG PARLIAMENT BUT TORIES AND LABOUR ARE OUTPERFORMING PREDICTIONS

Exit polls provide a window into what party is likely to win in the general election. The final result should be clear around 4 a.m. BST.

• Exit polls show that it's going to be a hung parliament. Exit polls are usually pretty accurate in forecasting who will win the general election.
• Labour predicted to get 266 seats — a rise of 34
• May called the snap election to gain a bigger majority but exit polls show Tories predicted to lose 17 seats.
• Conservatives and Labour are both outperforming the exit polls so far.
• There are a number of reports from different areas where people are being turned away for voting due to electoral services issues.
• The number of people registered to vote is higher than the 2015 general election.
• Results are expected to be clear around 4 a.m. BST.

LONDON — Exit polls show that it's going to be a hung parliament.

Exit polls are usually pretty accurate in forecasting who will win the general election. The results from last five elections matched exit polls closely.

There are 46.9 million people registered to vote — a rise from the 2015 general election number of 46.4 million.

Between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time on June 9, we should get a clear indication of who has won the general election.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected. In order for a party to get a clear majority in government, it would have to claim 326 seats.

There are reports that there were issues at polling stations in several constituencies where people were unable to vote as their names were not on the register despite having polling cards.

0020 — LABOUR SEEMS CONFIDENT IN HOLDING TAKING A NUMBER OF SEATS TORIES AND SNP

0015 — LABOUR'S EMILY THORNBERRY SAYS MAY "HAS FAILED"

Emily Thornberry told the BBC about what she thinks about Prime Minister Theresa May:

"She basically wanted to stamp out the opposition … and the country has said 'no' and the country has looked to the Labour party and we have put forward a positive alternative … so she has failed.

"It looks tonight like we could form the next government.

"It would then be up to them [smaller parties] to explain to their consttuents … why they let the tories back in.

"There are no coalitons, there are no deals, either the conservatives will be the minority government … or Labour will be the minority government."

0007 — CORBYN HAS ARMED GUARDS OUTSIDE HIS HOME

Jason Farrell from Sky News reports that the "armed guards were always due to be here overnight."

0001: TORIES AND LABOUR OUTPERFORM EXIT POLLS

The Swindon North results showed an 11% increase in Labour vote in Swindon. This is an outperformance of the exit poll:

2358 — SWINDON NORTH — CONSERVATIVES WIN THEIR FIRST SEAT OF THE NIGHT

2357 — NEWCASTLE EAST RESULTS IN

LABOUR: 28,127

CONSERVATIVE: 8,866

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: 2,574

2355 — LABOUR SOURCES TELL BI IN BARROW THAT THEY'RE SCEPTICAL THAT EXIT POLLS SHOW LABOUR WILL HOLD ITS SEAT

BI's politics reporter Adam Payne in Barrow Town Hall where the Labour held seat was initially predicted to swing to the Tories. He told us from down-on-the-ground:

"I'm in Barrow and Furness where Labour's John Woodcock is defending his 1.8% lead. The 10 p.m. exit poll predicts Labour will hold the seat - but Labour activists here are sceptical. 'If it's right then it contradicts all of our data,' one Labour activist told me. If Labour holds in Barrow - where the Trident is produced - it'll be a remarkable result for Labour."

2350 — THE FIRST 3 RESULTS SHOW SWING IS TO TORIES — DESPITE NOT WINNING "SAFE" LABOUR SEATS

Exit polls were predicting more of a swing to Labour.

2347 — SUNDERLAND CENTRAL COUNT IS IN

Conservatives: 15,059

Labour: 25,056

Liberal Democrats: 1,777

2332 — SOURCE CLOSE TO CORBYN TELLS BI "MAY'S CREDIBILITY" IS COMPLETELY SHOT

Senior Labour source, close to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, tells BI's politics editor Adam Bienkov:

"If this exit poll is correct, Theresa May’s credibility is completely shot. As May said herself, if she lost just six seats in this election she would not be Prime Minister."

"If exit poll is correct, Labour has had biggest increase in popular support during campaign by any party in British political history by a massive margin," the source added.

2327 — TORY SOURCE TELLS BI YOUTH VOTE HAD A "MASSIVE" TURNOUT IN BARROW & FURNESS

BI's politics reporter Adam Payne is in Barrow Town Hall for the Barrow & Furness:

2324 — 5 SURPRISING THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED FROM THE EXIT POLLS

BI's politics editor Adam Bienkov put together a guide on how we should be very cautious on exit polls. He writes:

"The poll is strongly at odds with what most polls, pundits and the parties themselves told us was going to happen. However, exit polls have a pretty good record in the UK."

Read the full article here.

2320 — THIS PICTURE OF FORMER CHANCELLOR GEORGE OSBORNE ON ITV

The old English idiom — "a picture is worth a thousand words" — can be applied here. George Osborne was the chancellor under David Cameron's leadership but was sacked by current Prime Minister Theresa May when she took over the Tory party in July last year:

2312 — THIS HOUGHTON AND SUNDERLAND SOUTH RESULT SHOWS EXIT POLLS WERE NOT ENTIRELY CORRECT

There was a big swing to Conservatives although Labour won the majority in this seat.

2306 — HOUGHTON & SUNDERLAND SOUTH

Labour: Over 24,000

Conservative: 12,324

Labour holds but its results is worse than before while Tories have added votes. Media is awaiting exact results and vote share but a failure on a microphone from Houghton and Sunderland South means exact numbers are not available yet.

2300 — NEWCASTLE CENTRAL RESULTS ARE IN

Labour: 24,071

Conservative: 9,134

Lib Dem: 1,812

2259 — AN ALTERNATIVE EXIT POLL POTENTIALLY SHOWS HOW YOUNG PEOPLE SHAPED THIS ELECTION

Britain's general election might produce a result few saw coming — a hung parliament — and young people voting in force may be behind it.

An alternative exit poll published by NME suggests that a massive 60% of young people in Britain voted for Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. Turnout among young people, meanwhile, is up 12% to 56% on the last general election in 2015.

The NME exit poll was conducted by The Stream and surveyed 1,354 18-34-year-olds.

Read more here.

2255 — THIS IS WHAT A HUNG PARLIAMENT WILL MEAN FOR BRITAIN

Britain is heading for a hung parliament as a result of Theresa May's Conservatives losing a signficant number of seats, according to a stunning exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky.

The exit poll predicts the Tories will be 12 seats short of a parliamentary majority.

BI's politics reporter Adam Payne put together an explainer about what a hung parliament would mean for Britain. Check it out here.

2250 — LABOUR'S JOHN MCDONNELL SAYS MAY SHOULD CONSIDER RESIGNING IF THERE'S A HUNG PARLIAMENT

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told the BBC that if the exit poll is right, the current Prime Minister Theresa May should consider resigning:

"If it is right, then I think her position is becoming increasingly untenable. I tell you why – if you listen to what people are saying, Theresa May promised on seven different occasions that she wouldn’t go for a snap general election.

"And she went for it on the basis that she wanted to secure a mandate that she already had. People just saw through that. They saw this as an election which was for party advantage rather than the interests of the country. And it looks as though they’ve rejected her as a result."

2235 — BETTING MARKETS SLASH TORY MAJORITY ODDS

Betting exchange Smarkets said that following the exit polls the latest prices, with % prices shown giving an implied probability are:

• Conservative majority tumbles from 85% to 55% after exit poll suggests hung parliament.
• Overall Majority: CON 55%, None 43%, LAB 2%
• Most Seats: CON 95%, LAB 5%

2222 — HERE ARE ALL THE KEY SEAT RESULTS TO STAY UP FOR

BI's politics editor Adam Bienkov has put together a guide of all the seats to watch out for when results roll in.

For example, Sunderland Central is one of them:

• Expected declaration time: 11.30 pm
• Winner in 2015: Julie Elliott (Labour)
• Labour majority over Conservative: 11,179
• Swing required to win: 13.38%
• Conservative target seat number: 136

One of the first seats to declare will be Sunderland Central in North East England. The seat has been held by Labour since its current boundaries were formed in 2010 and should be the easiest of holds for Jeremy Corbyn's party. However, if Theresa May is on course for the sort of new Labour-style landslide that some polls at the start of the general election predicted then Sunderland Central will be our first indication. Even a close result here would spell major trouble for Labour nationally.

Check it out here.

2215 — BRITAIN'S DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS 'EXIT POLLS HAVE BEEN WRONG IN THE PAST'

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon tells the BBC: "Let’s see some actual results. These exit polls have been wrong in the past. In 2015 they underestimated our vote, a couple of elections before that they overestimated our vote."

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell on the Tory campaign added: "It was pretty nasty, it was very nasty. It dragged us into the gutter at times. Let’s put that to one side. If the result is anywhere near like this, it means that positive politics has actually succeeded."

2207 — HERE ARE THE FULL EXIT POLL NUMBERS

2203 — POUND PLUNGES

BI's markets reporter Will Martin writes:

"The British pound is dropping sharply in overnight trade on Thursday after the exit poll suggested that no party will win a majority in the House of Commons after 2017's general election.

"The exit poll, which in recent elections has proved to be a fairly accurate forecast of the official result, showed Theresa May's Conservative Party as the biggest individual party, heading for 314 seats in the House of Commons, 12 short of a majority."

Read the full story here.

2200 — EXIT POLLS ARE IN

And it looks like it's going to be a hung parliament.

2155 — RESULTS COULD BE IN EARLIER THAN EXPECTED

Usually, during a general election, which is meant to be once every five years, there are local elections too.

However since this is a snap general election, there are no local elections taking place and therefore results might come in earlier than usual.

If there is a big landslide victory, Britain can expect results from around 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. BST on June 9. However, if the race is a lot tighter, it could be a few hours after that until we know who won.

In the 2015 general election:

• Houghton and Sunderland South was the first seat to declare at 10.48 p.m. BST.
• A Conservative majority was not confirmed until 1.34 p.m. ET the following day.

2145 — RECAP OF TODAY'S EVENTS

The voting period is from 7 a.m. BST to 10 p.m. BST. During this period, we've had:

• People were turned away from polling stations despite having polling cards with them.
• The Guardian spoke to Labour candidate Paul Farrelly in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where there have been issues stopping some students voting today. However, the electoral roll has reportedly been updated since that report:

• Latest betting odds from betting exchange Smarkets: Today's price for a Conservative majority, with 88% the highest it reached this morning.
• A fight broke out between photographers trying to get a picture of Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron at a polling station.

2130 — HERE COME THE EXIT POLLS

The exit polls will be a result of a survey of 144 polling stations across Britain, jointly commissioned by the BBC, ITV, and Sky and will became immediately available at 10 p.m. BST.

A number of other outlets are publishing their own exit polls, including popular music magazine NME.

NME says it exit poll will be a representative sample of 1,000 people, aged 18-34-year-olds between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. BST.

NME ran a campaign in the lead up to voting day called "My Plus One" to encourage young people to vote. It said "if every person under 25 took a friend with them to the polling station today, 2,527,743 more votes would be cast."

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Exit polls provide a window into what party is likely to win in the general election. The final result should be clear around 4 a.m. BST. Read Full Story