As the polls began closing across America, the world waited. Champagne was put on ice, pots of coffee were brewed, alarm clocks set. Tea-supping tribesmen in the Kashmiri foothills joined shisha-smoking Iraqis, east African Obamaniacs and wine-swigging Europeans, all glued to television rolling-news channels, awaiting the end of the Bush epoch.

The final hours of the count attracted unprecedented interest around the globe. Parisians held a "Goodbye George" party. Pakistani human rights activists rallied in support of Barack Obama, who they hoped would help settle disputed territories with India. From the Middle East, where politicians decried American "arrogance", to Malaysia, where the Foreign Minister urged the new president to make the US stand for "a more cosmopolitan or universal political attitude", they were rooting for Mr Obama.

In Berlin, where 200,000 people had gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in July to see the Illinois senator, the newspaper Bild lionised John McCain as "the War Hero" and his eccentric running-mate Sarah Palin as "the Beautiful Unknown". The Republican enjoyed support among Israelis nervous about Mr Obama's willingness to hold talks with Iran, and also in Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for five years after being shot down over Hanoi in 1967.

Britain's 250,000 American expats led the election-night parties. Chief among the embossed invitations was a green cardboard plaque requesting the pleasure of one's company at the cavernous US embassy in Grosvenor Square, London. Beyond the concrete bomb barricades, lay state rooms of twirling cocktail dresses and sharp-suited dignitaries. Ambassador Robert Tuttle, the Republican former car dealer and donor to George Bush's re-election campaign, played host with his wife, Maria, to 1,500 guests: diplomats, historians, artists, academics and journalists.

From 11pm, giant plasma television screens showed US and British networks as they announced the results, state by state. A ranch-style barbecue satisfied appetites. This being American soil, embassy staff had struck sponsorship deals with Burger King, Starbucks and Budweiser to fuel the political tribes through the wee small hours. Security was watertight. Mobile phones had to be left at the door.

A select crowd of academics, civil servants and political commentators were also braced to present themselves, a few short hours later, at Mr Tuttle's residence in Regent's Park for breakfast amid the Rothkos and the Willem de Koonings as His Excellency briefed them on what the result meant. CNN served cocktails and canapés through the night in the imposing dome of One Marylebone Road – formerly the Holy Trinity Church, designed by Sir John Soane. Britain's ex-ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer – once famously dismissed by a touchy John Prescott as a "red-socked fop" – went to a private party at The Ivy with his wife, Lady Catherine.

The biggest party by far was thrown by the Expat American Meetup group. After running out of space at a 350-capacity bar in Shoreditch, east London, the organiser, Connecticut-born Anthony Timmons, hastily arranged for 2,000 bipartisan revellers to party at Islington's Carling Academy concert hall. "We are the unwashed masses," he chuckled, amid the big screens and burgers. "I'm for Obama."