AT 1.10am, returning officer Gillian Taylor got calmly to her feet and announced the result the nation had been watching for, the British National Party had secured their first seat on Burnley Council.
In truth, the announcement was merely a formality.
The black-clad BNP had already formed a ring around their first winner, David John Edwards, around 10 minutes before Mrs Taylor took to the podium.
The congregated BNP supporters cheered as the now Coun Edwards' vote tally was announced. They cheered even more loudly when it was announced that he was now a councillor for Cliviger and Westhorne. Much of the rest of the room was stunned -- not because they had won a seat but because they won a seat in one of the most affluent parts of the borough of Burnley. It immediately put paid to the stereotype of the average BNP voter coming from rundown areas.
The assembled media, all 100 of them, immediately homed in on Mr Edwards. He was smiling, yes. He was posing for photos, yes. He was waving his hands, yes. But was he speaking? No. The candidate was saying nothing tonight.
Anti Nazi campaigners began waving banners behind the BNP as the flashbulbs popped and TV crews jostled to get a shot of the country's first BNP councillor in recent years.
Scuffles broke out among several of the campaigners and the BNP. The police moved in, separated several groups and Coun Edwards made a dash for the door, followed by TV crews.
Out in the carpark questions were fired from all angles: "Why aren't you saying anything?" "Why are you snubbing the people of Burnley?" "Have you nothing to say to your supporters?"
His minders did reply several times, saying it was a 'snub to the fifth column' -- a reference to what they perceived to be unfair media coverage -- and that 'he would talk to the people in time.'
They drove off into the night, with a skinheaded-man hanging out the window shouting 'This is for Vera Duckworth' -- a reference to Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn's appeal for people not to vote for the BNP. They stopped briefly to let a reporter and photographer into their car.
They would talk to them because they had given them a fair press, they said.
Back inside the Turf Moor sports centre -- used this year because it provided a more secure location than either Burnley Mechanics or the town hall -- Simon Bennett, the leader of the Burnley BNP was speaking.
He would be the only one speaking, he said, because the candidates felt victimised by the Press. He hadn't been elected, and as the questioning became more and more fierce he made a dash for it -- to the other side of the sportshall.
The scenes which prevailed at 1.10am were repeated at 2.31am when Carol Hughes was elected a BNP councillor for Rosegrove with Lowerhouse.
Again the cheers went up, no banners this time, but still she pushed for a quick escape.
Refusing to answer questions, and calling for her non-elected leader Simon, she was ushered out of a side door.
They were much more happy to respond to the questions, like "What are you ashamed of?" and "Are you racist?"
But they didn't actually answer them.
The Anti Nazi protesters who had gathered outside Turf Moor at 10pm chanting 'Smash the BNP' while being watched by a gang of baseball-capped teenagers had long since gone when Coun Hughes tried to make her escape.
The deliberating and guesswork of those in the hall was over. Turnouts didn't matter, the BNP were in.
Inside the sports hall and the news was relayed to the world.
TV and radio stations crossed live to Burnley to hear the news. Simon Bennett tried to downplay the party's racist connections, Burnley MP Peter Pike spoke of the bad it would do the town, council leader Stuart Caddy -- who now has a BNP councillor in his ward -- said he would not work with them while the opposition parties denied claims they let the BNP in by not putting up enough candidates.
Had the town's football team made it into the playoffs this year and not missed out by one goal, the cameras could have at Turf Moor this week as fans celebrated a trip to the Millennium Stadium. Instead, they were all due to return today to see if the BNP could make it a hat-trick of successes with one ward left to recount!
Lab: 27
Lib Dem: 8
Con: 4
BNP: 3
Ind: 3
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