The result of the 2024 US Election on November 5 will have global ramifications. Either Donald Trump’s return or Kamala Harris’s election as America’s first female president will seismically impact the world’s pre-eminent superpower’s political, diplomatic, and economic direction for the next four years.
The US election runs differently from the UK elections, largely due to geography, time differences and the intricacies of the electoral college.
Depending on how close the result is, the winner’s confirmation could take hours, days, or potentially even months.
Either way, the climax of one of the most turbulent elections in living memory promises to be enthralling. Naturally, for such an event, there are many ways to follow the election throughout the night.
Here’s how you can watch US Election coverage in the UK on November 5…
BBC & iPlayer
The BBC’s coverage from Washington, DC, will be anchored by Caitríona Perry and Sumi Somaskanda, who, according to the BBC, possess “unrivalled knowledge and experience of the US political landscape.”
Starting at 10.40pm, the coverage will have input from Clive Myrie, The Rest is Politics US host Katty Kay and disinformation expert Marianna Spring.
ITV
Tom Bradby will anchor ITV’s coverage once more starting at 10.45pm.
Bradby will be joined by Robert Moore and Anushka Asthana, along with guests, including former vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin.
The coverage will run until 6am when Good Morning Britain will monitor the results with the help of Jon Sopel, Stormy Daniels and Trump’s Harris-supporting nephew, Fred Trump III.
Channel 4
Channel 4 has gone big, with a team consisting of Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Matt Frei, Emily Maitlis and Jeremy Vine to host throughout the night.
They believe that paired with CNN, they will be “the definitive way to watch the US election in the UK.”
On air from 10.00pm, guests will include Boris Johnson, Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Michael Gove and Democrat Carol Moseley Braun – the first African American woman elected to the US Senate.
Sky News
Sky have joined forces with US network NBC meaning that they will have “the fastest and most accurate race projections” according to their website.
Live throughout the night, anchored by Mark Austin and Yalda Hakim; their coverage will have analysis from Lewis Goodall and US correspondent Mark Stone
The short answer is we don’t really know.
We will begin to get exit poll data from 10 pm, but rather than predicting the overall results, exit polls in the US tend to show voters’ key issues.
From midnight in the UK (7pm eastern US), polls will begin to close, with most closing around 4am UK time on Wednesday.
The mammoth task of counting ballots means that if the election is as close as it is projected to be, it could be hours or even days before we know the winner.
In 2020, it was not until the state of Pennsylvania declared Joe Biden a winner that he was announced as the president. In 2000, the most contested election result in American history took a month to be announced, with the crucial state of Florida being placed in front of the Supreme Court before deciding in favour of George W Bush.
