IT has been a whirlwind 24 hours or so since polls opened in Warrington for the General Election.

We will have a new government and Warrington will have a new MP.

In fact, residents in the borough of Warrington will be represented by three MPs for the next sitting of Parliament.

Here’s everything to know from the evening – including bits you may have missed if you did not stay up all night and are waking up to the news.

Labour sweeps ‘Warrington’ seats

It was a case of job done for Labour in Warrington’s traditional two seats as its representatives were elected in Warrington North and South.

After the horrors of 2019, these were two dominant wins.

In Warrington North, Charlotte Nicholls has been elected for a second term.

After almost falling to one of the biggest election shocks ever in 2019, she has extended her majority to more than 9,000.

She also extended her share of the vote.

It was even more impressive in Warrington South where Sarah Hall has a majority of more than 11,000.

This in a seat which is often decided by one thousand votes here and there.

With the changes to the boundaries, it seems Warrington South's days a bellweather seat are over.

Following the national picture, this was a horrible night for the Tories, following quickly from the awful local election in May.

Andy Carter failed to stop the decline seen across the country and was thumped into a second place.

For him, he will be a one-term MP after he tried, and failed, to get a safer seat elsewhere in the country.

Tories hang on to Lymm in boundary change

As mentioned earlier, residents in the borough of Warrington will be represented by three MPs this parliamentary term.

Conservative candidate and former cabinet minister Esther McVey narrowly clung on to her Tatton seat by a narrow margin of 1,136 votes.

The constituency now includes Lymm, which was formerly in Warrington South, but moved to Tatton during boundary changes.

Ballot papers were adjudicated and recounted multiple times in order to ensure that the votes were recorded properly.

It wasn’t until after 5am, nearly two hours after it was estimated to be heard, that the results were revealed.

What are the results in full?

Warrington North

Charlotte Nicholls, Labour

Votes 18,730

Share 46.8%

Share change +2.6

Trevor Nicholls, Reform UK

Votes 9,540

Share 23.8%

Share change +18.2

Yasmin Al-Atroshi Conservative

Votes 6,486

Share 16.2%

Share change -24.7

David Crowther Lib Dem

Votes 2,737

Share 6.8%

Share change +0.2

Hannah Spencer, Green

Votes 1,889

Share 4.7%

Share change +2.0

Maddison Wheeldon, Independent

Votes 659

Share 1.6%

Share change +1.6

 

Warrington South

Sarah Hall, Labour (elected)

Votes 23,201

Share 46.7%

Share change +2.2

Andy Carter, Conservative

Votes 11,861

Share 23.9%

Share change -20.5

Janet Balfe, Reform UK

Votes 7,913

Share 15.9%

Share change +13.2

Graham Gowland, Liberal Democrat

Votes 3,829

Share 7.7%

Share change -0.5

Stephanie Davies, Green

Votes 2,313

Share 4.7%

Share change +4.7

Peter Willett, Independent

Votes 445

Share 0.9%

Share change +0.9

Graeme Kelly SDP

Votes 110

Share 0.2%

Share change -0.1

 

Tatton

Esther McVey, Conservative

Votes 19,956

Share 38.4%

Share change -18.9

Ryan Jude, Labour

Votes 18,820

Share 36.3%

Share change +13.8

Oliver Speakman, Reform UK

Votes 5,948

Share 11.5%

Share change +11.1

Jonathan Smith, Liberal Democrat

Votes 4,614

Share 8.9%

Share change -7.3

Nigel Hennerley, Green

Votes 2,571

Share 5.0%

Share change +1.3

Who is Sarah Hall, the new Warrington South MP?

Often described as a bellwether constituency, in 1992, Warrington South was won by Labour’s Mike Hall, who is Sarah Hall’s father-in-law.

Mrs Hall has enjoyed a sharp rise since entering the world of politics.

She was elected to Warrington Borough Council, in the Bewsey and Whitecross ward, in 2016.

It was in 2021 when she was appointed to the cabinet as part of a post-election reshuffle, taking on the portfolio of children’s services. She stepped down from the council ahead of the local elections in May.

Furthermore, she has also gained experience of what life as an MP is like, having worked in the office of Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols, and former Warrington South MP Faisal Rashid.

Speaking at the election count at Birchwood Community Hub, after the result, Mrs Hall said: “I am stunned and I feel very lucky, very privileged, and I also feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulder.

“There’s a lot of people that have been saying ‘don’t let us down’, and I fully intend not to let anyone down.

“I’m going to work tirelessly for every single person in Warrington South, in all of the wards, all of them.”

Assessing how parties other than Labour and Tories did

Much is often made about how the main two parties did – but there were a number of other candidates on the ballot papers.

Most notable is the success of Reform UK in the town, knocking the Tories into third in Warrington North.

Candidates received a large chunk of the votes, mainly from the Tories, but also prevented Labour from increasing their share higher in the town’s constituencies.

It gives a solid base to build on looking to the next election and keeps Labour looking over their shoulders, as Reform looks to take votes away from the red rose party at the next vote.

Green and independent candidates also saw their vote shares grow, albeit being nowhere near challenging those bigger parties.

It was a great night nationally for the Lib Dems – but locally, not so much.

In Warrington North, the party was up a nominal +0.2 per cent, while respected Graham Gowland was -0.5 per cent in Warrington South.

The Lib Dems in Tatton saw their share of the vote fall by a significant -7.3 per cent.