VOTING in the 2019 general election is over with the people of Inverclyde now waiting to find out who has been chosen as their next MP.

The polls opened at 7am this morning and closed at 10pm.

Ballot boxes are now on their way to Greenock Town Hall where votes will be counted overnight.

Four candidates are vying to become Inverclyde’s next MP – Ronnie Cowan, of the SNP, Conservative Haroun Malik, Labour’s Martin McCluskey and Liberal Democrat Jacci Stoyle.

Mr Cowan, who is seeking re-election for the second time in just four years, is the heavy odds-on favourite to retain the seat with some bookies pricing him as short as 1/10.

But Labour candidate, Mr McCluskey, will be hopeful of causing an upset having lost by just 384 votes at the last Westminster poll in 2017.

He was a 5/1 shot with the bookmakers earlier today.

The Tories almost doubled their vote two years ago compared with nearly 8,400 votes and candidate, Mr Malik, would be doing well to maintain that level of support again this time round, according to the pollsters and the bookies.

However, the party nationally is tipped for an overall majority.

The Lib Dems in Inverclyde lost their deposit at the 2017 general election but candidate, Ms Stoyle, has been working hard to improve on the measly 978 votes received two years ago.

Brexit and a second Scottish independence have largely dominated the election campaign nationally, while issues such as the future of Inverclyde Royal Hospital, the NHS as a whole, jobs and industrial regeneration have been the big talking points locally.

The count will get underway at around 10.30pm and will continue into the early hours of Friday morning with an estimated declaration time of 2.30am.

*The Tele will be covering the count every step of the way, meaning Friday's edition will hit the shops a little later than normal to bring readers all the latest general election results, analysis and reaction from the Inverclyde count.

There will also be a live blog online at greenocktelegraph.co.uk and regular updates on the Telegraph's Twitter page - @greenocktele.