Since 1254 the High Sheriff has been the Returning Officer for their county (which is why at most counts the result is announced by the Acting Returning Officer as the Sheriff can’t be in more than one place at the same time). It was a huge privilege to be involved in the election and to see, at first hand, the results of the months of planning and preparation of Claire Porter, the Electoral Registration Officer, and her team at Shropshire Council, and Richard Partington and Phil Griffiths at Telford and Wrekin Council.

Annabel and I dropped in to our local polling station in Hope, at 9.30pm, before visiting all four counts. We started at Whitchurch where the North Shropshire count took place – we were there for the arrival of the first ballot box – then moved on to the Telford College of Arts and Technology where they had to count, not only the General Election votes for both the Telford and Wrekin constituencies, but also, later, the Borough Ward Elections and Parish Council Elections. The atmosphere was tense as Telford was a key marginal and was eventually to be won from Labour by the Conservatives.

We were both grateful for a hot dog purchased from Lorna and Kate who were running the Telford and Wrekin hot-dog stall throughout the night. On then to Shrewsbury, where it was a pleasure to talk to Dr Laura Davies, the Labour candidate, and to Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative candidate who retained his seat.

Finally on to Ludlow, arriving shortly after 2pm. Like all the other counts there was an atmosphere of calm efficiency as volunteers quietly got on with the task at hand. Shortly after 3am I announced the result and returned Philip Dunne, the Conservative Candidate as the elected Member of Parliament for the Ludlow Constituency. Annabel and I left for home as the hardworking officers and volunteers packed up after a long night of painstaking duties.