The moment most Conservatives abandoned hope even of a majority came at 2.17 a.m., when Labour seized Bury North on a 5 per cent swing. Like many Tory MPs who lost that night, David Nuttall had seen his vote go up but was swamped by Labour, who added 12.5 per cent to their vote share in 2015. ‘Darlington not coming to us was bad,’ a Tory aide said. ‘Losing Bury North was curtains.’
