“No-one’s going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever,” said Joe Biden today – a man almost within reach of becoming the 46th President of the United States.

But still, the agony of waiting, the ecstasy of this uniquely historic moment as an electoral system devised more than two centuries ago holds the world’s biggest democracy to ransom.

It is not enough merely to win the most votes – what Mr Biden and Mr Trump need is 270 votes in America’s electoral college, and getting there has not proved easy.

Biden’s Presidential hopes raised as key states keep counting