As the early results start to trickle in, it's a question of measuring real voting patterns against what we think the 10pm exit poll has told us.

This poll is the only one carried out for the broadcasters - Sky/BBC/ITV - and is of a completely different degree of seriousness than the opinion polls all over the newspapers: face-to-face with a much greater number of people after they have actually voted.

:: LIVE: Exit poll predicts no majority for May

For the last six elections Sunderland has made the early official declarations. The race there has often been little more than theatre.

Getting going in the North East

But the North East is unusually one of the key battlegrounds of this General Election. Remember the big boost for leaving the EU when Sunderland declared first in last year's referendum?

All night we'll be doing what I think Sky News does best: building up a picture of what is happening in real time, honestly telling you what we don't yet know as well as what we are finding out.