The polls have closed and now the waiting begins.

At Mote Park, when the ballot papers for both Maidstone and the Weald and for the Faversham and Mid Kent constituencies are due to be counted, the atmosphere is still calm.

Long lines of tellers are sitting at their tables waiting for the first ballot box to arrive.

In front of them, each has a pile of paper-clips and elastic bands and most have a plastic bottle of water.

It could be a long night for them.

Their first task will be tally up the total number of votes received from each polling station and check it with the record of votes cast to make sure there is no discrepancy.

Even though the borough council elections are not due to be counted until tomorrow, the same tallying process will be carried out with their ballot papers.

All that is expected to take several hours, and that’s before the count of the number of votes cast for each candidate even begins.

At the moment, the parties have only a smattering of supporters present. Most candidates - at least those who have been through this before - like to arrive fashionably late.

The result is not expected until around 6am.

If there is a recount - and many think the outcome for Maidstone and the Weald in particular will be close - it might be well into the morning before we discover who will be the town’s next MP.