Conservative Sir Roger Gale has held onto the North Thanet seat - and increased his majority.

The veteran parliamentarian saw off his competition by a sizeable margin, with his nearest rival, Labour's Carol Jones, receiving 17,189 fewer votes.

Summary

• Conservative Sir Roger Gale has been re-elected as North Thanet MP, receiving 30,066
• He has increased his majority to 17,189 - up from 10,738 in 2017

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Live Reporting

By Jack Dyson

05.35

That's it for the North Thanet count... until next time!

05:30

Sir Roger Gale HOLDS with 30,066 votes. He was followed by Coral Jones (Lab) 12,877, Angie Curwen (LD) 3,439 and Rob Edwards (Green) 1,796.

05:25

Sir Roger Gale HOLDS North Thanet.

05:00

Counting for North Thanet has ended. We are now just waiting for the results to be revealed...

04:50

The results for South Thanet have been revealed, and Conservative Craig Mackinlay has held the seat.

Click here for the full results.

04:35

Bit of a lull here. Many of the candidates are milling around in the sports hall, where the count is taking place, but little appears to be happening.

04:14

03:55

A Labour campaigner in her 80s was shouted at and pushed during a canvassing session in Herne Bay on Sunday.

The victim was said to be shaken following the altercation.

Talking about her experiences on the campaign trail, Conservative councillor Rachel Carnac said: "It was really sad to hear that; we should be able to go out there and campaign, and not be manhandled and insulted.

"You do get the odd person who seems to take offence at anyone going out canvassing.

"I have come across the odd quite angry person, but generally I'd say most people are really friendly."

03:40

Reculver councillor Rachel Carnac (Con) says that the main topics of discussion she has had with voters on the doorstep, while campaigning for Sir Roger Gale, have been Brexit and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"Everyone's quite positive that the Conservatives will be returned comfortably, I hope," she said.

"Brexit's been a really big issue. Another issue is that many of the many people I have spoken just have not wanted Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister."

03:20

02:50

Sir Roger Gale says he is cautiously optimistic ahead of the announcement for North Thanet.

A frequent critic of the Prime Minister, the veteran parliamentarian adds that he will consider the job Boris Johnson has done while in office a good one if he delivers "a thumping majority".

"In light of the exit poll, obviously I'm optimistic," he said. "We've worked very hard; most of us of all parties I think have wet feet and frostbite.

"I hope and believe Mr Johnson will have a majority and that will enable us to get Brexit done.

"If he has a big enough majority, he'll perhaps now emerge as the Prime Minister many of us would like to see him be."

02:42

02:30

02:25

Sir Roger Gale has arrived and he's casting his eyes over the count.

02:04

Labour candidate Coral Jones is "very hopeful" she will pull an unlikely upset and unseat Sir Roger Gale.

She said: "I think what happens here will reflect what's happening in the country.

"I feel very hopeful that we might have a victory here in North Thanet.

"People are very worried about the NHS, they're very worried about poverty and poor housing. This area has been neglected for far too long.

"People have been very positive on the doorstep. Brexit is a very minor issue on the door."

01:48

The turnout for North Thanet has just been announced as being 66.56%, with 48,428 people going to the polls.

The figure from two years ago stood at 66.63%.

01:30

01:25

Much of the room has emptied as several of the counters have finished going through their ballot boxes. Those votes are yet to be verified, though.

01:15

01:01

Labour candidate Coral Jones has now arrived.

Sir Roger Gale is the only one of the candidates not to have arrived yet.

00:30

Garlinge councillor Kerry Boyd has at the polling stations this morning.

The Conservative says what she's been hearing in her ward has been "very positive".

She added: "The turnout's been pretty good so far. A lot of people have been out voting today and some of them have been coming out for the first time in a while.

"The exit poll was quite promising. Hopefully what we'll get is a working majority to get Brexit done."

00:08

As the jubilant Conservative cheers in Blyth Valley erupted from the television in the corner of the lobby outside the count, one media member quipped: "Is that the football on the TV?"

23:43

23:35

Like Ms Curwen, Green candidate Rob Edwards's number-goal is to gain 5% of the vote.

The gym manager said: "We're aware we're in a massive Tory stronghold.

"Ideally, we'd like to make sure we get over 5% and then it's just a case of getting the numbers as high as we can.

"Out on the campaign trail we've had some really positive feedback; lots of people said they were voting Green and lots of people were annoyed."

23:30

We understand that the last of the ballot boxes are expected to arrive in the next five to 10 minutes.

23:15

Green Rob Edwards and Lib Dem Angie Curwen are the only candidates to have arrived so far.

There is no sign of Sir Roger Gale or Labour's Coral Jones just yet.

23:10

22:52

As you may know, tonight's poll is the third in four years.

Here is a look at the results from the 2015 and 2017 elections...

22:38

Liberal Democrat candidate Angie Curwen had a slim chance of success going into tonight - but whatever hope she had of a shock victory appears to have disappeared following the exit polls.

Speaking to KentOnline, the despondent centrist said: "Nationally, it's really disappointing; I had hoped there would be more of a spread.

"If I hold my onto my deposit, I'll be very pleased."

22:19

And the counting has begun...

Conservative and Labour spotters are keeping a watchful eye over proceedings as the first of the ballot papers are counted.

22:10

The exit polls are out, and they're predicting a huge Conservative majority.

They forecast the Tories to win 368 seats, with Labour winning just 191.

The SNP is predicted to win 55 and the Lib Dems 13.

22:06

21:40

Labour ran the Conservatives closest in 2017 , with Frances Rehal 10,738 votes behind Sir Roger Gale.

With no Ukip candidate this time round, and Nigel Farage opting not to fight Tory-held seats, we're looking at a four-horse race.

But something extraordinary would have to happen for the Lib Dems or Green Party to make the winners' enclosure.

21:30

With just half-an-hour until the polls close, we've arrived at Hartsdown leisure centre, where votes for the North Thanet seat will be counted.

The bookies and pollsters are predicting a clear win for Sir Roger Gale, but surprise results do happen, as fellow knight Sir Julian Brazier found out in 2017 .

Exit polls at 10pm will no doubt shed more light on the local and national picture.

Follow our KentOnline live blog for the latest updates and results from across the county.

To see who was elected in North Thanet in 2017, click here.

For all other General Election news, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Thanet

Read more: All the latest news from Herne Bay