Live: Newark by-election results
The Newark by-election result is among the most eagerly anticipated of recent years, with UKIP posing a strong threat to the Conservative Party.
Our live blog will be updated constantly throughout the evening as candidates arrive at Kelham Hall for the count. Some sources have suggested the result will be known around 2am to 3am on Friday morning.
We'll have opinion, pictures and video of the key figures tonight, following a remarkable campaign which has seen senior Tory figures including Prime Minister David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Chancellor George Osborne visit the constituency, in addition to Labour leader Ed Miliband and UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
Live: Newark by-election result
03:34: Robert Jenrick is Newark's new MP, polling 17,435 votes. Roger Helmer of UKIP was second, Michael Payne of Labour third.
03:32:
03:23
03:18
03:02: Liberal Democrat candidate David Watts looks a little glum as he sips his bottled water outside the Dome.
He says his party never expected to do well in the by-election, but believes both Labour and UKIP should be disappointed with the results.
"It will be an appalling result for Labour and I think UKIP will be very disappointed not to win after all the momentum they have had.
He said: "We now have to carry on what we're doing locally. If you look at Southwell, where the town council led by the Liberal Democrats, every shop is full.
"That's a direct result of our policies."
We're expecting the candidates up on stage in the next five to ten minutes when the results will be read out.
02:58: Exact number of votes is 38,886.
02:49:
02:39: Labour candidate Michael Payne.
02:20:
02:19: Still awaiting the result - it will be a Conservative victory, but the margin of victory should receive the most scrutiny.
02:06:
01:58: Elizabeth Hambridge: Most of the candidates have arrived at the count for Newark by-election.
So far three of the four main parties are represented with only David Watts from the Liberal Democrats missing at present.
The only other candidate not present is David Bishop, known as Lord Biro, of the Bus Pass Elvis Party who is believed to not be attending.
Conservative candidate Robert Jenrick arrived with his wife Michal in a heavily staged entrance but by far the biggest media scrum was the arrival of UKIP candidate Roger Helmer and the party leader Nigel Farage.
Counting of the votes continues but the mood of the hall is that it is likely to be a Conservative win for Newark.
01:51: Likely winner Robert Jenrick arrives at the count.
01:48: Labour candidate Michael Payne arrives at the count.
01:46: There are rumours that the Liberal Democrats have finished in sixth position.
01:37:
01:36:
01:32: So, UKIP have conceded the Newark by-election to the Conservatives, but expect to have reduced the majority to around 2,500. We expect the official result in about 90 minutes.
01:25:
01:24: UKIP candidate Roger Helmer.
01:14:After a u-turn by security staff and/or UKIP's press officers, Nigel Farage and Roger Helmer strolled into Kelham Hall amid a barrage of flash photography and bustling.
Farage conceded that it looks like UKIP are not going to be able to topple this Conservative seat tonight, but said he was delighted that they look on course for their best ever by-election result.
He and Helmer were followed by virtually all the press up to the gallery where they are currently giving interviews.
01:08:
01:02:
01:00:
00:58:
00:54: Returning officer Andrew Muter.
00:51: Advertiser reporter Nicholas Carding: One unavoidable aspect of this by-election is of course the inevitable media scrums that occur when a person of importance enters the count.
It's becoming common to see journalists track down harassed-looking party press officers to ask for access first to the subject.
There will undoubtedly be such a scrum when UKIP candidate Roger Helmer and party leader Nigel Farage arrives.
I've been told that the Conservative candidate Robert Jenrick will arrive soon after UKIP's contingent.
00:49: Turn-out is officially 52.79 per cent.
00:46:
00:45: A Twitter account which says it is the official UKIP Newark account appears to be conceding defeat.
00:41:
00:37:
00:35:
00:26: Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin has taken on the job of Conservative spokesman this evening.
He told the Advertiser he is very well aware of the issues surrounding the Nottingham to Lincoln railway line, saying: "A very strong case has been made to me by people here.
"It would be wrong of me to make promises because this is a by-election but we recently spent £100m on Nottingham station so we are spending money in this area."
Newark endured three sieges during the civil war and when asked if the Tory party's 'Dawn Raid' today could be described as the fourth siege, Mr McLoughlin said: "We have worked very hard in this by-election and I think the people of Newark would expect us to work very hard in this by-election, and not take anything for granted."
00:18: Independent candidate Paul Baggaley.
00:14: The Advertiser's Elizabeth Hambidge: There's a hush in the Dome at the moment as votes continue to be verified.
All the parties have agents monitoring the counting process but we still await many of the main players in the by-election contest.
Fringe candidates who have arrived early have congregated in the nearby carriage court along with supporters of the main parties in contention.
00:13:
00:11: Counting still taking place as we head into the small hours. We're still awaiting the arrival of Robert Jenrick, Roger Helmer, Michael Payne and Nigel Farage.
00:04:
00:03:
23:57: The Advertiser's Nicholas Carding: Labour have lost votes to the Conservative Party from constituents concerned about the rise of UKIP, Chris Bryant has told the Advertiser.
Bryant, who is Labour candidate Michael Payne's election agent, said: "I'm proud of the campaign that we have fought.
"We've highlighted the biggest local issue which is Newark Hospital, and I found it surprising that the Prime Minister didn't visit the hospital."
He acknowledged they had lost votes from voters concerned by the UKIP threat but said: "I've met a lot of people who went to the Advertiser and Newark Business Club hustings, and said they would switch from Conservative to voting for Michael."
23:52: Turn-out now expected at 1am, result at 3am.
23:50:
23:49: The Advertiser's Nicholas Carding: Tory MP for Sherwood Mark Spencer tells the Advertiser he has his fingers crossed tonight.
He said: "I'm confident we've got the best candidate in Mr Robert Jenrick and I'm confident we have delivered the best campaign.
"Hopefully Robert, if elected, and myself will be able to exploit this position. All the cabinet members of the Government now know where Newark and Nottinghamshire is, and the issues here."
When asked if, in that respect, the Patrick Mercer affair indirectly helped the Newark constituency, Mr Spencer said: "Life is about opportunities, and we've had a great opportunity to showcase Nottinghamshire."
23:47: The Advertiser's Elizabeth Hambidge: Now all the ballot boxes have arrived, the votes will be verified before they are sorted into bundles of 25s for each candidate and then bundled into 100s.
When all the ballot papers are sorted and counted for each candidate the final result is calculated.
The doubtful ballot papers, ones where the vote my not be clear or could be considered spoiled, are adjudicated by the acting returning officer and his deputies in the presence of candidates and agents.
The provisional result will then be shared with candidates and agents who can request a recount.
If a recount is not requested Andrew Muter, the returning officer, will announce the results.
23:45: The Returning Officer now believes turn-out is around 53 per cent. Announcement around midnight.
23:41: Sky's Adam Boulton has tweeted that Nigal Farage is expected around 2am.
23:27:
23:26: Independent candidate Mr Andy Hayes says the his campaign hasn't gone as well as he had hoped due to a lack of media coverage.
He said: "I haven't had as much media attention as I had hoped but I have learned a lot of things from standing in the by-election.
"I'm very tempted to stand again in the General Election next year, and I will continue to campaign for equalities issues."
23:25: All the boxes are in and the ballots are being counted.
23:14:
23:12 More on the turn-out from Elizabeth Hambidge: "Returning officer for the Newark by-election Andrew Muter has told the Advertiser he believes the turn out could be close to 58%.
He said there had been a strong postal vote but up until a few hours ago he only expected a turn out of around 50%."
23:10: Advertiser reporter Nicholas Carding: "The Conservative Party representatives are being remarkably tight-lipped so far.
An interview request with Newark Conservatives Chairman Mr Stuart Wallace was turned down until party officers have a clearer idea of how the votes will pan out.
No interviews are being given as of yet, but Secretary of State for Transport Mr Patrick McLoughlin is arriving shortly and will talk to media."
23:04
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23:00:
22:58: Further to the earlier post regarding turn-out, Steve Hawkes, deputy political editor of The Sun, says turn-out is estimated to be no more than 50 per cent. We should find out the exact figure before 11.30pm.
22:53: Patriotic Socialist Party candidate Lee Woods says he is excited to be at his first by-election count.
Lee, who is the youngest candidate standing tonight, said he was hoping to beat the Liberal Democrats and was feeling positive and confident.
He is accompanied by his mother Annette Woods.
22:49: Sky's Adam Boulton has tweeted to say that a Labour source has told him the turn-out could be as high as 60 per cent.
22:46: Candidates are beginning to enter Kelham Hall.
22:42: Advertiser reporter Nicholas Carding: The first candidate in the by-election to arrive is Mr David Kirwan, the Green Party candidate.
He told me the main aim tonight is to get the deposit back, but he also harbours some hope of beating the Liberal Democrats' candidate Mr David Watts.
Mr Kirwan said: "Campaigning in the last few days has been great. We're hoping to build on our result from the last time we stood, which was in the early 1990s when we got 0.8%.
"I think by standing in this by-election we have increased awareness of the Green Party in Newark, and hopefully we'll have plenty of candidates who can tackle next year's General Election."
22:29: We've been told to expect an announcement on the turn-out for the #newarkbyelection at around 11.30pm.
22:27:
22:23: Advertiser reporter Nicholas Carding: "The Conservatives have told the Advertiser that Secretary of State for Transport Mr Patrick McLoughlin will be arriving at 11pm to talk to media, but we are not expecting Mr Robert Jenrick until after midnight."
22:19:
22:15: Our reporter Elizabeth Hambidge on the start to the counting: "There's been a quiet start to the count at Kelham Hall.
The first ballot box travelled just metres from the polling station in the door to Dome to the counting tables.
A team of counters has begun to sort the ballot papers watched by a large group of photographers.
Candidates have yet to arrive at the count and are expected later in the evening but a steady stream of ballot boxes and rosette wearing supporters are making their way in."
22:12 A Survation poll suggests that the Conservatives will win the Newark by-election with a 42 per cent share of the vote, ahead of UKIP (27 per cent) and Labour (22 per cent).
22:10:
22:08: A Conservative press officer tells the Advertiser that candidate Mr Robert Jenrick won't be arriving until "much later".
22:07: The first ballot box is being counted. It's keep from the polling station at Kelham Hall.
22:05:
22:00: The polling stations have closed in the by-election.
21:50 Just ten minutes remain before the polling stations shut, and all eyes turn towards the count. The result of this by-election will have a significant influence on the parties ahead of next year's General Election.
21:41: Quite the interesting stay for UKIP's Roger Helmer.
21:32: Less than half an hour until the polling stations across the constituencey close. Focus will then turn to Kelham Hall, where candidates, political figures and dozens of journalists are expected. We'll have video, pictures and reaction. And, of course, the all-important results in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
21:19: And the most unusual polling station is perhaps this caravan.
21:15: And here's a fun story from earlier today - trying to predict the outcome of the by-election.... through sales of buns. We kid you not!
21:09 Should the Conservatives win tonight, it will be the first time since 1989 that they have held a seat in a by-election while being in Government. The last time that happened was in Richmond - and the MP elected was William Hague. Mr Hague was another senior Tory who visited the constituency in the run up to today's vote.
20:58: Just over an hour until the polling stations close.
20:43: Before becoming an Independent, Patrick Mercer was a Conservative MP. One of the fascinating plots to tonight's count is the margin of victory. When Mr Mercer won in 2010, he had a majority of more than 16,000.
20:40: This by-election was forced by the resignation of the MP Patrick Mercer. He resigned as an MP after committing one of the worst ever breaches of Parliamentary lobbying rules.
20:38 We want to hear your views, too. Leave them in the comments box below and a selection will be included on the live blog. Alternatively, email s.parker@newarkadvertiser.co.uk.
20:34: And here is the venue for tonight, in Kelham Hall.
20:20 Various tweets have been sent out today from prominent politicans and the candidates, in a final appeal for votes.
20:09: There has been plenty of activity in the town today, as the votes were being cast. Nigel Farage dropped by a local pub with UKIP supporters and candidate Roger Helmer.
The Conservatives had up to 1,000 activists and 100 MPs pounding the streets.
And there was a squabble over a UKIP sign being posted too close to a polling station.
20:01: There are just under two hours remaining for people to vote. Our reporting team of Elizabeth Hambidge and Nicholas Carding will be at Kelham Hall from 10pm as the count gets under way.
20:00 Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the Newark by-election results.
