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Storm delays St Ives election result after boat is unable to reach the Isles of Scilly to collect votes

A polling station signpost lies on the pavement, in Twickenham, England, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. British voters are deciding who they want to resolve the Brexit conundrum in an election seen as one of the most important since the end of World War II.  (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
St Ives will likely be the last constituency to declare (Picture: AP)

St Ives will likely be the last constituency to declare in the general election after bad weather prevented votes from being collected.

The Conservatives have already stormed to victory with a large majority but locals will still be eager to know who their MP will be.

The ballots in the Isles of Scilly, which forms part of the St Ives marginal seat, were due to be collected at 1am on Friday but strong winds meant a boat was unable to take them to the largest island, St Mary's.

Cornwall Council had the option to use a helicopter to collect the votes from the smaller islands so they could be counted but decided against this method.

Instead, the authority will wait until it’s safe to use a boat when the weather clears in the afternoon, which could delay the result until later on Friday.

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The result was meant to be announced at 5am but officials estimate the ballots will not be picked up before midday.

A Cornwall Council spokesman said: “The count for the St Ives constituency has been suspended, and we hope to reopen at Truro College at 2.30pm when we hope to restart the count.

“The St Ives seat is usually one of the last to declare in the UK and was previously told to improve ‘timeliness of declarations’ by the Electoral Commission.

In 2017 the Conservative MP Derek Thomas won the constituency by just 312 votes.

This year his challengers include Labour’s Alana Bates and Liberal Democrat Andrew George.

The St Ives constituency also includes Penzance, Penwith and Helston.

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