Why did it take so long to declare in Dumfries?

The election results from Dumfries were among the last in the whole of the UK to be declared at the 2024 general election.

The outcome of the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and Dumfries and Galloway constituencies had been expected by about 04:00.

Instead, the final declaration came at about 10:30 - prompting criticism and questions about the length of time taken.

Dumfries and Galloway Council admitted it had taken "longer than we had envisaged" but insisted "accuracy - not speed" was its paramount concern.

David Mundell, who retained his seat for the Conservatives, said they would "need to understand" what had happened at the count to make it one of the last to declare.

"There aren't really special circumstances here that would justify that in my view," he said.

"We don't have islands, we don't have ballot boxes coming by boat, we had less people voting than had voted in previous general elections."

He said he hoped the process would be reviewed as it was not fair on politicians, activists and the staff who were at the count.

Mr Mundell said he understood ballot boxes had to travel long distances but that was not enough to justify the time taken.

"It is the longest I have ever been involved with and it is not satisfactory," he said.

A statement from the local authority stressed the nature of the region had played its part in slowing down the process.

"Our two constituencies cover wide and diverse geographies," it said.

"The furthest polling station from the count is Drummore, 84 miles (135km) from the count centre in Dumfries, from which it takes around two hours to reach by car.

"Some vans from outlying rural areas took longer to arrive than anticipated and had as many as 40 ballot boxes in them, delaying the count."

The council said there had been a number of other factors at play.

“In addition, a large number of postal votes were handed in at polling stations later in the day, which we then had to verify when they reached the count centre," it said.

“Last, because of the fact many colleagues who would ordinarily have helped count the votes were on holiday, we had fewer election staff available than in previous elections."