Tamworth by election 2023: it was my first time at a count - there’s drama, it’s bizarre and I loved it

People still have to go out and vote, put pen to paper, and journalists, candidates, councillors, all come together on the evening of the count in anticipation of who will be the winner. It is funny and bizarre in the digital age that we now live in - as votes and the count could all be done on computers or phones. But by-elections and of course the main general elections have kept their old ways intact - and I love it.

In the hall there is the bustle of the counters hard at work, sitting at the desks for hours meanwhile the candidates stroll around with their party members - with us, the press, eager to get photos, videos and interviews. Despite the time being midnight, and the hours rolling on into the early morning, there is a buzz in the building and everyone forgets that actually we are up at 3am.

Rumours swirl from one person to the next on who has won the by-election as the counters carry on their work sifting through the votes. And then when it is time for the declaration everyone quickly prepares, filing into the room where the announcement is due to be made. All of the candidates go on the stage and the room is silent. Well, apart from the late entrance from the Tory candidate, Andrew Cooper, who it turns out was only in the building for five minutes or so. The drama of the night, the rumours, and the goings on adds to the brilliance of the by-election and how it has retained its roots and not given way to the digital era we now live in.

When the results are announced, there are cheers and more drama - as Cooper makes a swift exit off the stage following his defeat to Labour’s candidate Sarah Edwards. There are then interviews with the winner and a wind down where it subsequently starts to hit you that by this point you are still up and wide awake at 4am.

When the candidates were up on the stage it was interesting to see their reactions and try and work out how they were feeling from their facial expressions and body language. And to me, it was clear straight away that Cooper knew he had lost his seat. Even workers on the reception had been murmuring that they had heard Labour had won. The fact that Cooper wasn’t even there during the night and turned up late to the declaration also said a lot.

The fact that we all still get out of our houses to go and vote and councillors sit up all night to count every vote that comes in is bizarre in the tech and digital world we now live in but it is also nice that this isn’t yet another thing we have lost to all that. It is untouched, like how it was back in the day, and I quite like that. Even though I am 24, and have grown up with mobile phones and the fast-changing pace of the world, tech, mobile phones, I still like traditional ways and wouldn’t like to see how we do elections be replaced with electronic, faster way of doing things. Keep it untouched - and let us continue to enjoy the bizarreness of it all.