Looking back: A year since a dramatic General Election in Peterborough, how the super-tight count played out

But exactly a year ago, Peterborough – along with the rest of the country – went to the polls for the 2024 General Election.

Going into the election, the two city seats – Peterborough and North West Cambridgeshire – were held by Conservatives.

Paul Bristow had held the seat since the 2019 election, when he secured 46.7 per cent of the vote, beating out Labour’s incumbent Lisa Forbes by around 2,500 votes.

The North West Cambridgeshire seat had been a Conservative stronghold, since it was first formed in 1997.

Brian Mawhinney had claimed the seat in the first two elections for the Tories – and fellow Conservative Shailesh Vara had won five elections in a row – including in 2019 by 36,000 votes.

But 2024 would be a much closer affair – with recounts needed in both seats, meaning a long night – and morning – for all the candidates .

Mr Bristow went head to head with Labour’s Andrew Pakes, with an early prediction from Sky News suggesting Mr Pakes had a ‘99 per cent chance of winning’ after votes had closed. But Rumours that a re-count would be needed soon swirled around the Kingsgate Community Church, where the count was held, with some estimates in the counting room suggesting that there were fewer than 100 votes between the two leading candidates. The initial estimate of a 2am result came and went, and at around 3.30am, shortly after Mr Bristow arrived, it was confirmed that a re-count was needed.

Eventually, at around 4.50am, the Peterborough candidates were called to the stage for the final result – with Mr Pakes claiming a narrow victory by just 118 votes.

There was even more drama at the North West Cambridgeshire count, where the battle between Labour and Conservative was fought between Mr Vara and Sam Carling.

The count had been delayed due to issues at a polling station in Hampton, where there was still a large queue of voters when polls closed.

Like with Peterborough, the rumour mill was running quickly about the need for a re-count – but it wasn’t until 4am when that was confirmed.

Sources told The Peterborough Telegraph that there were less than 25 votes between Mr Vara and Mr Carling.

The final results were not declared until 5.40am, with Mr Carling winning by just 39 votes – one of the smallest winning margins in the election, and meaning he became the youngest MP in the current Parliament.

Here we take a look back at some of the best pictures from an election count filled with drama – with David Lowndes behind the lens.