Is it Cash or Buck? Westminster North holds it breath

ANDY McCORKELL REPORTS: From the media balcony over the count floor the sense of industry is palpable as the whole of the country waits for result of one of the most keenly awaited election results in history. Westminster North and the key battle between incumbent Karen Buck and

From the media balcony over the count floor the sense of industry is palpable as the whole of the country waits for result of one of the most keenly awaited election results in history.

Westminster North and the key battle between incumbent Karen Buck and the new Cameron starlet on the block Tory Joanne Cash is in full fury as officers push papers into piles.

The pressure to deliver a definitive result hangs heavy in the air.

Along with a few other key marginals in North West London, the result will signal where the country is headed over the next few years.

Within the next few hours all those who voted today will find out whether the nation will be adjusting to the demands of the economy with the energetic, roll your sleeves up style of Ms Buck or whether we will see the glamour and passion of a new wave of politicians exemplified by the powerful media barrister, Ms Cash.

Ms Cash has waged a campaign in which she has been scrutinised after resigning as the Tory prospective parliamentary candidate before being reinstalled by David Cameron.

She has also been questioned, unfairly some would argue, for her charitable work on the ground in some of the more impoverished parts of the constituency.

But Ms Buck, who has been a key part of the Labour rearguard on the doorstep with grassroots campaigiing faces a long night if the effects of 13 years of Labour government, two wars, the expenses scandal and the recession do not deal a heavy blow in this election.