Election night guide for Jewish News readers

Jewish News will be providing overnight coverage of what promises to be a historic general election on Thursday night into Friday morning by running a live blog, including unrivalled coverage of the countdown to results in Barnet.

But it promises to be a long night for those wishing to take in all the results from the key constituencies impacting the Jewish community.

Early predictions for timings suggest it could be after 4am before we know the results in Finchley and Golders Green, Hendon and Chipping Barnet. But first results with Jewish candidates standing across the country could come in three hours after the polls close at 10pm on Thursday.

On a night, widely expected to be great for Labour and gloomy for the Tories, parliament is tipped to have a new Jewish face confirmed by around 1am, with Josh Simons, director of the think-tank Labour Together, expected to secure the Makerfield, in north west England.

As the clock ticks past the 2am mark, Luke Akehurst, who sits on Labour’s NEC, and has been a staunch ally in the fight against antisemitism is also tipped to win well in North Durham.

An hour later, and the result from Hertsmere is predicted to be announced, with Oliver Dowden seeking to retain a seat he landed with a 21,000 majority in 2019. The result is expected to be considerably closer this time, with Josh Tapper, the former Gogglebox star standing for Labour in the seat with one of the biggest Jewish votes.

While the timing of election counts are difficult to predict in advance, the result from Chelsea and Fulham, where Labour’s Ben Coleman is attempting to pull off a significant shock by unseating Conservative minister Greg Hands, should also arrive before 4am.

Labour’s Christian Wakeford is seeking to win the Bury South seat again in Greater Manchester, this time for Labour, with  Arnold Saunders, the former rabbi of Higher Crumpsall and Higher Broughton Synagogue, standing for the Tories.This result could be announced around the 4am mark.

In Welwyn Hatfield, defence secretary Grant Shapps is widely expected to face a serious challenge to future in Westminster, with the much anticipated result expected at around the same time.

Results for Leeds,  including for Jewish Labour candidates Alex Sobel, standing in Leeds Headingley, and Fabian Hamilton in Leeds North East are also expected at around this time.

Another highly regarded Jewish Labour candidate, Georgia Gould is also tipped to win Queens Park and Maida Vale in a result expected before 4.30am.

Those still not in bed by this time can expect to wait a while before the results from the three Barnet seats, Finchley and Golders Green, Chipping Barnet and Hendon are confirmed.