by political editor Paul Francis

Voters in Kent will not be kept waiting to learn who their next MP is after ministers effectively ruled that the general election count must be held overnight.

Justice secretary Jack Straw has lent his weight to a cross-party call for counting of general election votes to begin on Thursday night, with the results declared as they always have been.

His intervention comes after some returning officers said they planned to delay counts until Friday daytime, arguing it was better for staff.

Mr Straw told MPs he was concerned about the "growing trend by returning officers" to begin counts the following day "for their own convenience".

An amendment to the Constitutional Reform Bill on election night counts went with the backing of all the main parties.

The prospect of results being declared at different times sparked a campaign to keep the traditional overnight counts.

Political commentator Jonathan Isaby launched a Save General Election Night campaign on Facebook.

In September, he told KM Group: "People want to know not only their own election results but what the outcome is nationally. In a county like Kent, you have a lot of marginal seats and unless all those seats count together on Thursday night you won’t actually get the national result until possibly late on Friday.

"These marginals are crucial seats and are where the national election will be won or lost."

Only two authorities responsible for the county’s 16 parliamentary constituencies had indicated they planned daytime counts on Friday - Canterbury and Swale (Sittingbourne and Sheppey).

Canterbury council said it had already revised its position and would be sticking with the traditional Thursday night count.

However, a further four were keeping their options open: Maidstone, Dover, Shepway (Folkestone and Hythe) and Ashford.