With less than 24 hours to go until the fate of our government is revealed, all eyes aren't on the Conservatives, Labour Party members, or Lib Dems, but the city of Sunderland.

Sunderland, you say? Sunderland, indeed. The North East city has raced to declare its general election results before anyone else for the last 27 years, with near-perfect success.

It's actually come first in the outcome speed-erboard since 1992, bar a brief dip in 2017 when its results were revealed seven minutes after Newcastle upon Tyne Central's.

Nonetheless, Sunderland still holds the title for the fastest-ever declaration. In 2015, its results were declared just 48 minutes after the polls closed.

With voting centres open from 7am to 10pm on polling day, it's a pretty astounding pace. That year, Sunderland Central managed to count votes in roughly 5% of the time it took for constituents to submit them.

As you might imagine, it's a complex operation — one involving extra thin ballot paper, specialist ballot counters, and over 1,000 council workers and volunteers.

Here's everything you need to know about Sunderland's record-breaking declarations, the drive to keep its counters at the helm of the conversation, and how they are expected to fare in the December 2019 general election.