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An exit poll released after voting closed forecasts a shock General Election victory in Hartlepool for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

The poll – carried out by Ipsos UK for Sky News, the BBC and ITV News – suggests Reform candidate Amanda Napper will be the town’s next MP.

Bookmakers had previously made Ms Napper 8/1 joint second favourite to win the seat alongside current Conservative MP Jill Mortimer.

Both were placed behind 1/8 on favourite Jonathan Brash, representing Labour, who is seeking to overturn Mrs Mortimer’s near 7,000 majority.

Reform UK candidate Amanda Napper pictured at the 2024 General Election count at Hartlepool's Mill House Leisure Centre. Picture by FRANK REID

The exit poll – which suggests Labour will win 410 seats nationwide and enjoy a 170 majority – is based on 17,000 interviews by Ipsos staff at 133 polling stations across the country.

It is unclear if Hartlepool was among the constituencies where surveys were carried out.

While its forecasts are usually dependable, they are not infallible – suggesting a hung Parliament in 2015 when David Cameron led the Conservatives to a surprise outright victory.

The Hartlepool result, where eight candidates have stood, was initially expected to be announced the town’s Mill House Leisure Centre at around 3.30am on Friday.

This was pushed back to 4.30am and then brought forward to around the 3am mark.

Keep logging back to www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk throughout the morning for further updates.

General Election 2024: Counting underway in Hartlepool as exit poll forecasts shock Reform UK win