Election update from our local counts

11:45pm: Bucks Free Press reporter James Clements has called in from the Wycombe count saying the count is quiet at the moment.

Labour candidate Chauhdry Shafique has arrived, accompanied by a number of supporters.

Green candidate John Laker and UKIP candidate Christopher Cooke have just arrived at the count, which is now underway.

Mr Cooke said he was "very hopeful" while Mr Laker told us that "everything had gone well."

11.50pm: Reporter David Langton in Maidenhead (it covers the villages of Cookham and Bisham where we have lots of readers). Only three candidates turned up so far.

The atmosphere is good and generally everyone seems resigned to a Conservative win with the Tories out in force, showing Theresa May still has a firm grasp on the seat.

Only half the counters have turned up so the result will be late, about 3.30am.

UKIP candidate Denis Cooper says campaigning has gone fine but the voting is not so good: "We have talked to lots of people and recruited many new members and we will be going stronger as a result.

"We are not just getting Tory voters, we are attracting voters across the spectrum. Voters have been told this election is not about Europe and there will be a Referendum. You will be hearing more from UKIP especially from Thames Valley."

Labour candidate John O'Farrell said: "I have really enjoyed myself, coming back to my own town and standing for Parliament. Theresa May will get back in but the Lib Dems will increase their vote."

11.40pm: James Cox has called in from Chesham and Amersham and says everyone is at the count now except for Liberal Democrat John Ford.

James reports that the Greens were first in with Nick Wilkins at 10.20pm along with Ian Harvey, UKIP, who has brought along his family to support him.

Cheryl Gillan and quite a few Conservatives with rosettes are eagerly hanging around and early indications are that Gillan will retain her seat.

She would not be drawn into whether her majority would increase or decrease saying she doesn't have a crystal ball.

Gillan said: "I'm always quietly confident. We have all worked extremley hard and we hope the results will be a positive one."

Labour's Ken Hulme predicted very little change in the result. He said before that Labour would come second and was the main opposition to the Conservatives. But he seems to have backtracked on that and made a u-turn saying there will be very little change.

He thinks Lib Dems will probably remain as the second party. He doesn't seem to think that Labour can become the main opposition but he does believe the Tory vote will drop a little.

He said: "I think there will be very little change but the Lib Dems will do a little better. I think the turn-out will be low and the Labour vote may be done somewhat." But he added it was a case of wait and see.

Ian Harvey said the UKIP camp was buoyant as ever. He said he was picking up a lot of votes from disillusioned Labour voters who are not pleased with what Tony Blair are doing.

Gill Duval, of the Pro Life Alliance, who earlier admitted she had little chance of winning the seat, said she was honoured to be at the count having never been to one before.

She said: "It is really interesting and I am proud to be here."

She said she would be pleased with any votes she got and added: "I am just one person with a message to give, with very limited resources and I hope for the best."

Nick Wilkins, Green Party, said he wasn't very confident in the first past the post system. He said: "We have had a fairly good reception. People are concerned the environment has not had much prominence in this campaign."

12.12am: Reporter David Langton at Maidenhead says the Monster Raving Loony Party candidate Lloyd Clarke, who's wearing a schoolboy's hat, denim jacket and screaming Lord Sutch badge, said: "All the candidates have been really nice to me. They dare not be rude to me or poo poo me cos they know they will be the target of my rage and comic talents.

"This is a good election for us because there is going to be a lot of protest voting. People don't like the current government and they don't like the opposition either.

"If I win I will offer Theresa May my job as a secretary because she will be out of a job, if I don't win I don't know what I am going to do. I will keep my options open."

If he wins he plans to build a Rolf Harris museum and theme park in Maidenhead as Rolf Harris lives in nearby Bray. He also said if Maidenhead floods again he will personally go down to the river and drink all the water.

12.29am: Big news at Wycombe with the Labour and Conservative agents already talking about a re-count. The votes are piling up and it is very close indeed.

12.35am: Lib Dem Dee Tomlin in Wycombe said: "It is going very well. I have got a lot of support on the streets but I don't know what that is going to do to the vote. I suppose I will be beaten in to third place again."

12.50am: The atmosphere heated up in more ways than one in Wycombe when a fire alarm went off just before 1am.

"Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what to do," said reporter James Clements. "Then someone said it was caused by a cigarette and we didn't have to evacuate."

Two fire engines were racing up Marlow Hill as we put this on the website, but the real heat is still on the candidates.

Labour's Chauhdry Shafique was said to be writing a victory speech based on his party's last victory in Wycombe in 1945.

Tory candidate Paul Goodman was looking anxious, but no one knew what the real result was going to be as ballot papers were still being counted.

12: 45am: In Beaconsfield, Stephen Lloyd ( Lib Dem) said he was feeling expectant that the Lib Dems would get a good result nationwide and increase their numbers. In his constituency he was looking for a 13 per cent increase in the Lib Dem vote

Dominic Grieve was last to arrive at the count at 12.45am he said he was feeling serene. He was smiling and feeling confident.

01.16am: In Wycombe UKIP are rumoured to have don badly in the election. Leader of the Labour Group on Wycombe District Council, Ted Collins, said he expected the turn out to be 10 per cent lower than last time. Ballot papers at Wycombe are not expected to be counted until 1.45am.

He said that most of their promised votes turned out including 200 in Cressex in the last half hour before polling shut.

Leader of Labour group on Bucks County Council Trevor Fowler said it was going to be very close and you are never going to get politicians saying they have done badly and that you have to keep your spirits up.

01.21am: Despite being confident of a Conservative win in Amersham by Cheryl Gillan, there are glum faces in Chesham from the Tories as they watch the landslide take hold across the country. But Labour's Ken Hulme is walking around laughing and with a permanent smile on his face as the TV coverage continues. Lib Dem John Ford cheered as his party held on to Torbay, successfully warding off the Tories.

There has been a rough turnout figure of 65 per cent, 10 per cent down on 1997, and total votes cast approximately 45,500.

Result is expected around 3.30pm.

01.54am: Acting returning officer Richard Cummins at Wycombe District Council has apologised for the time taken to empty ballot boxes. The problem is due to separating parliamentary and county council ballot papers.

Lib Dem Dee Tomlin admits she is not going to win but said the campaign has been well received.

Roger Colomb, leader of Wycombe District Council, said some people who went to polling stations and said they had lost their postal votes were told they could not vote now.

Results of the Aylesbury count are not expected until between 5-6am.

Wycombe results are expected between 3.30am and 4am.

02.11am: Result of Wycombe expected at 3am. 3,000 postal votes were sent out but only 1,850 were returned.

There was 60.85 per cent turn out for the constituency compared with 71.1 per cent in 1997. The number of those eligible to vote is 74,297, but only 45,210 did.

02.20am: Liberal Demorcrat Dee Tomlin has expressed her anger to political editor Margaret Smith because there is no bar or TV so candidates cannot keep up to date with the election results from around the country.

02.44am: Syreeta Lund has reported there has been a 61.1 per cent turn out at Beaconsfield.