It was about 8pm when I arrived at the PA Media offices in London on Thursday, 4 July 2024. This was not because my train was disastrously late or due to a laissez-faire attitude towards normal working hours – but because it was the day of the UK General Election. The exit poll was to be made public at 10pm and, about an hour and a half later, early results from across the country’s 650 constituencies would begin trickling in.

I had written a number of articles already in the run up to election, including an explainer of the various dos and don’ts surrounding the big day itself, like whether you can take your dog with you (it has to be safely secured outside) and if you’re allowed to take a selfie inside the polling station (nope, and it could land you a £5,000 fine or up to six months in prison).

There had been a lot of newsworthy party politics leading up to the General Election. I had attended a rally in north-west London in support of former Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen, who had been hoping to run against Conservative Sir Iain Duncan Smith; she had allegedly been blocked from contesting the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency over past posts on social media.

I also reported on then Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch’s plea to former Tory voters not to abandon the party in favour of Reform UK. And I covered the story of a Tory candidate who said “excrement” was put through the letter box of her constituency office.

Election night in the newsroom was as exciting (and nerve-wracking) as might be imagined. I was responsible, among a few other things, for monitoring PA’s live feed of constituency results, as recorded by election reporters in each constituency. I had to spot notable results – the outcomes of prominent politicians’ seats (the Prime Minister, ministers, and other famous faces) or big swings from the previous election – and add them to a live blog.

In the early hours of the morning, when the results really started coming in, it was quite the task not to let any slip by, and to decide by myself (as everyone was rather busy) which results were newsworthy enough for inclusion.