Sally Nugent exposes BBC Election 'secret weapon' in frantic result battle

Sally Nugent exposed an Election night 'secret weapon' to viewers at home on Thursday night, as she and her colleagues waited for results to come in, after predictions of a Labour landslide.

BBC Breakfast anchor Sally was sent to Sunderland, a place with a proud history of being first to declare countless times over the years when it comes to General Elections. As her co-stars Clive Myrie and Laura Keunssberg led proceedings back in the studio, following the reveal of an exit that made very happy reading for Labour, they crossed live to Sally at the Sunderland South count in Houghton.

Prior to them chatting to the popular presenter, footage of boxes being hurried into the count had played on screen, right next to similar scenes in Blyth, as Naga Munchetty waited to see if the Northumberland town could pip Sunderland to the post. When the camera cut to Sally, she was firstly quick to praise the efforts of sixth form pupils at St Aidan's and St Anthony's in Sunderland, who'd been trained to help get the ballot boxes in at quick speed, before she then moved onto talk about a 'secret weapon' Sunderland had up their sleeve.

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Revealing all, Sally said: "I know here, we are perhaps the underdogs tonight when it comes to timing; we are perhaps expected to come in second, but I can tell you we have a secret weapon in this room. Here in this room is Jackie, one of the bank tellers from the original super, super fast counts all those years ago.

"She's brought back the A team and they are at the back of this room, counting right now and I can tell you they are confident. Jackie told me they are going to win."

And Jackie proved to be spot on, as Sunderland did indeed take victory in the race to be the quickest to declare, with the announcement coming just before 11.15pm as Labour's Bridget Phillipson scored a resounding victory.