Key seats to watch and who to follow on social media as South West makes General Election headlines

As key battlegrounds go, the South West is the region to watch tonight. Here is a whistle-stop tour explaining why, which seats to look out for and who to follow to get all the results, insider info and expert analysis first throughout the night and into Friday.

So, while the cameras have been on Clacton and the ‘Red Wall’, there’s a reason the main party leaders have spent more time campaigning in the South West than almost anywhere else. Between them, Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, Ed Davey, Nigel Farage and Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have made 22 visits to the South West.

The reason? There is something to play for here for all five of the major parties - and a lengthy list of Cabinet members at risk of losing their seats. Here are some of the key battles to look for - some of which might just provide that ‘Portillo moment’ of 2024…

Exit poll: What the 2024 General Election exit poll tells us about size of Labour's predicted victory

First of all, one Jacob Rees-Mogg could face losing his North East Somerset & Hanham seat to Labour’s candidate, the Metro Mayor for the West of England Dan Norris. SomersetLive will have rolling coverage throughout the night on its live blog here and reporter John Wimperis will be at the count in Bath. Follow him on Twitter /X here.

Mr Rees-Mogg’s long-serving colleague Sir Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, and his neighbouring North Somerset constituency has also been polling as a close-run contest with Labour. Follow reporter Phoebe Hobbs, who is at that count in Weston-super-Mare for SomersetLive, here.

Most forecasts have Labour gaining as many as 10 seats from the Conservatives across the Westcountry, and the Liberal Democrats something like five or six.

But Labour are not in for an easy night everywhere. The BristolLive newsdesk will be live throughout the night from one of the few seats anywhere Labour could feasibly lose.

That is Bristol Central , where Thangam Debbonaire faces a strong challenge from Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer. The Greens took effective control of Bristol City Council in May. Reporter Alex Seabrook is your man at the count there.

Reform UK are looking to make some headlines of their own in Bristol, albeit headlines short of actually winning a seat. Polling experts have them as coming second - above the Tories - in several safe Labour seats.

These include Bristol North West, Bristol South and Bristol North East; reporters Alex Seabrook, Adam Postans and Lewis Clarke are all at counts in the city, so make sure you are following them on social media as well as keeping tabs on BristolLive's live blog.

The team there will be covering every twist as it happens live as the night unfolds - give Tristan Cork a follow too as the results come in and we unpick what’s happened into Friday daytime. The full details on how to follow election night in Bristol are in this more comprehensive guide.

Reform was also polling as pushing the Tories into third in another inner-city seat in the region, Plymouth Sutton & Devonport. Live coverage from from there will be on PlymouthLive throughout the night too - you can find the team's main live blog here.

This seat is held by Labour’s Luke Pollard; the Conservative candidate is Gareth Streeter. He is the son of veteran politician Sir Gary Streeter, who was MP in the same patch from 1992-97, and then in South West Devon thereafter, but who is standing down at this election.

If the exit polls are to be believed though, the night is likely to be dominated not by the Greens, Reform or even Labour, really, but by the high-profile Tories tipped to lose their seats.

Several current Government ministers are facing strong challenges across the South West. Let's take a quick a look at who, and how you can keep track of their seats.

Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer has been embroiled in a bitter campaign with Labour challenger Fred Thomas in Plymouth Moor View, a seat that was looking too close to call in the lead-up to Thursday

It's been a messy fight on the doorsteps and yesterday his wife called the police on a group of veterans protesting against him. This has been one of the fiercest and most aggressively-fought campaigns in the region by both parties and whoever wins it will grab national headlines.

PlymouthLive will be running a dedicated Plymouth Moor View live blog here packed full of gossip and reaction from the count itself and, of course, the results as they come in. Reporter Carl Eve will be at the count at Plymouth Life Centre and you can follow him on Twitter/X here. A more thorough guide to following election night in Plymouth is here.

In Gloucestershire, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk could be unseated by Liberal Democrat candidate Max Wilkinson in Cheltenham . Reporter Carmelo Garcia is at the count there and GloucestershireLive will be live blogging throughout the night here.

Nearby, Transport Secretary Mark Harper will be hoping to cling on to a majority in the Forest of Dean. It is far from certain though. Journalist Janet Hughes will be watching this one and you can find a dedicated live blog here.

Labour are also hoping to claim Tory-held seats in Gloucester and Stroud. Reporter Will Luker will be at the count in Gloucester so give him a follow on social media too - and there is a more detailed guide to following the election night in Gloucestershire here.

In Devon, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride’s Central Devon seat, which Labour have been targeting, is one to watch. DevonLive will have live updates from this and a dozen other constituencies until every one is settled. It's going to be a busy - and long - night here but all the major plot twists will be covered live in the team's county-wide live blog coverage here.

Even Sir Geoffrey Cox, the former Attorney General, isn’t exactly a dead cert to win in what should be a Tory stronghold of Torridge & Tavistock - DevonLive is of course the place to follow that one too.

Back over the border in Somerset, reporter Daniel Mumby is at the count in Yeovil where Conservative Marcus Fysh could be run close by Lib Dem Adam Dance. Live coverage of that seat here. There's a full guide to how to follow the election in Somerset here.

Meanwhile, in Cornwall, which returned a clean sweep of Conservative MPs in 2019, it is a three-way fight. CornwallLive will be all over it - and it is not a simple picture anywhere. County-wide live blog coverage is here and you won't want to miss a thing.

For starters, former Environment Secretary George Eustice is not standing in Camborne & Redruth, but his would-be successor is far from guaranteed a spot in the Commons. That’s one of three seats Labour will be hoping to take in the county (the others being St Austell & Newquay and Truro & Falmouth), potentially at the expense of incumbents Steve Double and Cherilyn Mackrory.

Reporter Olivier Vergnault is at the count in Truro, where Labour’s Jayne Kirkham is half expected to cruise to victory if some polls are to be believed.

In the most westerly seat of all, St Ives, incumbent Derek Thomas looks vulnerable to Andrew George, who served as the Liberal Democrat MP for the area between 1997 and 2015.

Even in North Cornwall, where Scott Mann is expected to hold on, reporter Lee Trewhela found widespread discontent with the current Government during a visit last week. A comprehensive guide to how best to follow election night in Cornwall is available here.

The Lib Dems also are targeting two Tory-held seats on the Somerset and Devon border; Taunton & Wellington and Tiverton & Minehead are worth keeping an eye on via SomersetLive and DevonLive.

They also have high hopes for the Honiton & Sidmouth seat and could run the Conservatives’ Anthony Mangnall close in South Devon. Local Democracy Reporter Bradley Gerrard will be at the count for the former.

Finally, but by no means least, in Torbay fellow Local Democracy Reporter Guy Henderson will be there to see if the Conservatives’ Kevin Foster can hold on against Lib Dem former council leader Steve Darling. The latest YouGov polls were suggesting he may not.

For the best blow-by-blow live coverage, head to our websites at bristolpost.co.uk, plymouthherald.co.uk, devonlive.com, cornwalllive.com, somersetlive.co.uk and gloucestershirelive.co.uk