Journalism students will cover election counts for the seats held by John McDonnell and Boris Johnson tonight.

Brunel University students will work through General Election night and use a live studio link to the count in the London Borough of Hillingdon, where their institution is based.

The university’s indoor athletics centre is where counts will be held for Boris Johnson’s seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s seat in Hayes and Harlington and Nick Hurd’s seat in Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner.

Around 30 students will serve as live anchors and roving reporters on the night for the coverage, which is being dubbed ‘GENews17, publishing stories on local news website Hillingdon is Here and on social media.

Journalism lecturer Rachel Sharp said: “The students are really excited to have the opportunity to report live from an election count.

“They all have great skills in multimedia journalism, and are looking forward to testing out those skills in a real live reporting situation.

“We also have a lot of students that are passionate about politics, so this is such an exciting night for them.”

Student Amalie Henden, 23, who will be one of the broadcasting anchors on the night, said: “I’m really looking forward to it, it will prepare me for the my future as a journalist, this is exactly what I want to be doing in the future.”

Amy Harrison, 20, added: “It’s an excellent experience for us, to have a real live event to use all our skills we are learning, including shorthand.”