General Election 2010: Decision Day liveblog
Click here to read the Q&As of 8 Lewisham candiates in today's election.
01.34 Update
BK: I'm going to start a new thread for the nightshift - anyone else who's still up, feel free to shift debate over to there.
01.34 Update
Brockley Kate checking in here ... Looks as though the first surge of results is starting to kick off.
What a bunch of tits in the background at Gordon Brown's count. What's with the sunglasses and the salute?!
01.21 Update
As we go to sleep, Tories are racking up big swings that will avoid a hung parliament if replicated nationally, though nowhere near the 18.72% needed to unseat Joan Ruddock.
Angelofthewest sends us this link to the BBC report of voting taking place in Brockley as late as 10.30pm.
00.57 Update
BN: Tum-te-tum. Quite hard this rolling news stuff. Maureen Lipman's just been as useful as ever on BBC One. Muttering something about how Winston Churchill must be turning in his grave that the British public had the temerity to find the TV debates pretty useful. Dreadful woman.
Paxman's obviously run out of questions and just keeps asking how Libs could justify propping up a Labour government against the evident wish of the British people. Easy answer: they wouldn't be, they'd be forming a new type of government which would very likely have a bigger proportion of the vote than Labour did last time.
Again on Twitter, Cllr Luxton says of the Manwood Road polling chaos: "Over 100 voters queuing round block and being turned away by police."
Kate will be along soon, hopefully!
23.41 Update
BN: BC Twitter pal @cedrichampton reports that "Friend of mine on Salehurst Road said he waited 2hrs at Manwood Rd this evening, the crowd's mood got ugly at 9.45." Police reportedly called to the station. Ugliness not connected to the Gordonbrock rebuild, to our knowledge.
23.30 Update
BN: Everyone on BBC very excited about size of Tory swing in first two Labour wins, but if you're in a massively safe seat, the temptation to protest-vote must be great.
23.09 Update
BN: Exit poll revision gives Tories even fewer seats with 305, Labour 255, LD 61, Others 29. Our own exit poll currently puts Greens and Libs neck and neck in the lead with 33% and 31% respectively.
23.06 Update
BN: BBC reporting Lewisham polling station confusion - staying open after the official closing time, to allow queuing people to vote.
22.02 Update
BN: Exit poll say a hung Parliament is on its way. Tories getting 307, Labour 255, Lib Dems 59, Others 29. Woop!
21.19 Update
BN: The Guardian's London blogger is impressed by the liveblog and more importantly, by the savagery of Brockley Central reader comments, quoting some choice views about Joan Ruddock.
20.18 Update
BN: We've just added an "exit poll" to the site, so you can tell us which party attracted most of your vote today, at Mayoral, Council and MP level. Not very scientific, but what the hell. Please vote now.
19.12 Update
BN: Just back and off to vote. On way home spotted Labour activists doing a last minute sweep of Telegraph Hill's Gellatly Road.
16.45pm Update
Just over five hours left to get your vote in. Let's look at some odds from Ladbrokes (editor's note: Other betting firms are available, this does not constitute a commercial endorsement). They put Joan Ruddock's chances of winning back her seat as 1/66, with the Greens and Lib Dems both at 12/1.
The race is slightly tighter over in Lewisham East, with Labour favourites at 1/4 facing a challenge from the Lib Dems at 5/2.
15.15pm Update
Looking ahead to this evening, here are your vital timings. Brockley Nick will be with you through the early shift, while Brockley Kate gets some kip. She'll then be joining you from midnight onwards to host the nightowls' commentary. If you're planning to stay up late and watch the coverage, do join us and chip in with your thoughts. We'd particularly welcome comments from anyone at the Lewisham count.
According to the Press Association, the Lewisham constituencies aren't due to declare until 6am, so it's going to be a long night for some ...
12.03pm Update
Journalism.co.uk today examines the impact of hyperlocal sites on the general election coverage landscape, giving Brockley Central an opportunity to pat itself on the back for being so clever:
In south east London, community site Brockley Central can happily co-exist with bigger news groups, says co-editor Nick Barron. The site gets "some traffic and credibility" as one of the sites aggregated by the Guardian in its coverage of London politics...
"I think the key difference is that I am not writing dispassionately about the community I cover - Brockley Central is part-campaign group, part-community forum and part-news outlet. Many of my stories come from readers themselves, who probably feel they have a stake in the site and a relationship with me as the editor that they don't have with their local newspaper reporter..."
Read more here if you can stomach it.
Introduction
Well, BC has played its tiny part in the democratic process and all we can do now is to sit back and wait for the results. That and talk a lot of hot air, of course. To facilitate this latter aim we've decided - for the first time in the site's history! - to set up a liveblogging thread to follow events through the day and provide a convenient place for people to engage in never-ending political arguments. Aren't you all lucky ...
- You don't need a polling card in order to vote, as long as you're registered to vote. Simply go along to your local polling station.
- To find out where your local polling station is, contact Lewisham Council's electoral services department on 020 8314 6086.
- If you don't know whether you're registered to vote, contact Lewisham Council's electoral services department on 020 8314 6086.
- There are three elections taking place today in Lewisham: for councillors, for the directly-elected Mayor, and for MP. Each ballot paper is a different colour. Each one tells you at the top how many votes you have: in the local council elections, you can vote for up to 3 people; in the Mayoral election, you can select your first-choice vote AND your second-choice vote; in the Parliamentary election you can vote for just one person.
- European voters are eligible to vote in the local council elections, but NOT the Parliamentary election. Therefore don't be surprised when you aren't given all 3 ballot papers.
Let the arguing begin...
