It’s hard to overestimate the scale of the Conservatives’ victory in Nottinghamshire.
The former coal-mining Labour heartlands, firmly working class and heavily Brexit leaning, have become safe Conservative seats overnight.
The electoral map of Nottinghamshire now shows an enclave of red in the city, and a sea of blue surrounding it.
Every single seat outside the city was won or held by the Conservatives, increasing their vote share across the board.
In seats where the Conservatives would barely have bothered in previous years, their candidates romped home, leaving Labour with a huge task on their hands to turn them round next time.
In Bassetlaw, a seat held by Labour since before the Second World War - usually with huge majorities - the Conservatives won a majority of more than 14,000.
Vernon Coaker, the Labour MP for Gedling for 22 years, lost his seat.
He told Nottinghamshire live he still has a "fire burning" for politics despite the loss while Gedling's new Conservative MP Tom Randall said the main focus was to respect Gedling's overall vote to leave the EU and progress with Brexit.
In Ashfield, Labour were well-beaten into third place.
Conservative MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson told Nottinghamshire Live: "I wasn't surprised because the national picture was telling me that we should be picking up these leave seats, especially the coalfield seats.
"The ex-coalfield constituencies like Mansfield, Ashfield, Bolsover, Bassetlaw all voted heavily to leave but (they were also) strong, traditional Labour areas.
"But we got the feeling on the doorstep that lifetime Labour voters were prepared to lend a vote or to vote Conservative to get Brexit done.
"It was really the Brexit election and last night in places like Ashfield and Mansfield it proved it. It was a Brexit election."
Mansfield, which until 2017 had been red for as long as anyone can remember, is now a very safe Conservative seat.
Even Broxtowe, one of Labour’s key target seats, fell easily to the Conservatives in the end.
As the scale of the losses became clear, there were tears at counts from Labour activists and candidates across the county, as even the safer seats fell to the Conservatives.
The two MPs who left their parties in February to join the Independent Group for Change - Anna Soubry in Broxtowe and Chris Leslie in Nottingham East - both lost their seats.
But despite the results in the county, the city stayed firmly red. In Nottingham South and Nottingham East, while the Labour vote was down the Conservative vote was too, and the party still has healthy majorities in both.
The country's youngest MP at 23, Nottingham East's Nadia Whittome said becoming an MP was "the greatest honour of her life" but that the Labour Party had "lessons to learn" and a "period of reflection" after a "hugely disappointing night".
She said she would "continue the fight" against protecting local services and the "inequalities" her constituents could face.
In Nottingham North however, the lead narrowed considerably. Labour’s Alex Norris held the seat, despite the Conservative advances.
Lilian Greenwood, who remains the Labour MP for Nottingham, described the night as ‘devastating’ for her party.
In her acceptance speech, she said: “You won’t be surprised to hear me say while I’m absolutely delighted to be re-elected to represent our city in Parliament, tonight’s results are devastating for the Labour Party.
“Many of my friends and colleagues who’ve worked hard and with great integrity have lost their seats.
“Labour must reflect and rebuild and offer a real alternative and I intend to be part of that process.”
As the Labour soul-searching begins in earnest, even Conservatives admitted the scale of the victory surprised them.
Darren Henry, the former RAF man turned Broxtowe MP, admitted he was ‘shocked’ at how well he and his party had done.
For him, Brexit was by far the biggest reason people turned away from Labour.
Asked whether he thought Brexit or Corbyn had been a bigger factor in voters moving away from Labour, Mr Henry said: “Brexit. Definitely Brexit. It’s all about not having a narrative over the last few years.
“I spoke to people on the doorsteps who were Remainers and were upset that Parliament was frustrating the will of the people. They just want it done.”
