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Meet the team behind this year's Mid-Derbyshire election count
THERE is just one day to go until Belper heads to the polls to help decide who will the next prime minister of the country and who will be the new Mid-Derbyshire MP.
The election, which has been cited as the most closely-run in a generation, has been on everybody's minds for weeks.
For most people in the country their role begins and ends at the ballot box, but across the UK thousands of people spend months getting ready for the election
There are 650 separate counts taking place nationally for the General Election.
The Mid-Derbyshire count will take place in Oakwood.
Reporter Laura Hammond took a look behind the scenes in the run up to the count.
People in Britain have been on tenterhooks for weeks, wondering who will be the next prime minister and which party will run the country.
The run-up to this week's General Election has been a closely-fought race, which has sparked controversy and discussion from the day it was announced, at the beginning of last month.
But a team of people at Derby City Council have been thinking about the election for a lot longer, since December in fact.
City council deputy chief executive Michael Foote is the returning officer for elections at Derby City Council, and the man in charge of running the count for the Mid-Derbyshire Constituency, which has Belper right at its heart.
He said: "It's a mammoth logistical exercise to stage an election. There is some work that goes on throughout the year planing and making sure we have enough polling stations and things."
The city council has the responsibility for the Mid-Derbyshire election count as three of its wards are included in the new constituency. That means that Michael and his team have three counts to deal with, as they are also responsible for counts in the Derby North and South constituencies.
Michael, who has worked as returning officer for 22 years, said: "It's the first time we have had responsibility for three parliamentary constituencies, as well as local elections."
The election team, which totals around 250 people, including vote counters, has to be completely apolitical, to the point of signing a declaration prior to taking on the role. They are still allowed to vote, however.
It costs around 100, 000 to stage an election count, which comes through a grant from the government.
Considering all the work which goes into organising the count, it is easy to see where the money goes.
Around 50 venues for polling stations have had to be hired across the Mid-Derbyshire constituency, which covers areas of Erewash as well as Belper and Duffield from Amber Valley, and parts of Derby City. Staff have to be trained in each of the stations, which can range from schools, churches, village halls, and other public buildings, computer systems have to be set up, postal votes have to be organised, tens of thousands of postal votes have to be sent out and processed, and on the night of the count dozens of people need to be employed to transport ballot papers from the polling stations to the count, which will take place at Springwood Leisure Centre, in Oakwood, in Derby.
When the big night arrives tomorrow, Michael and his team will be working until about 5am, until the last vote has been counted, and the information has been passed on to The House of Commons for an announcement to be made.
By Friday morning the UK will know who their next prime minister will be.
After a lot of hard work and a very long work day Michael and his team will then finally be able to go home.
Michael said: "It's a lot of work, but it's always an exciting night, because you pick up on the atmosphere that's all around. Also it's quite a big responsibility to manage it. There's a mixture of relief and finish when it's all over."
Nobody knows what will happen when Britain heads to the polls, but one thing is for sure, Michael and his team will deserve a good rest once the result is announced.
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Weather for Belper
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
