Labour claim Farage will come third in South Thanet

A Labour source has told PA that according to their own calculations Nigel Farage could come third in South Thanet.

He said: “On the boxes that have been opened, that’s how it appears to us. The ward is Cliftonville East, which is a strong Tory ward that we haven’t held for 30 years.

“We would expect Ukip to do well. The boxes, from what we have seen, are showing the Tories comfortably in the lead and Ukip behind that and Labour closely behind that.

“We shouldn’t be competitive with Ukip in that ward. It’s only one ward but we feel that Ukip are not going to win.”

Mr Farage himself is feeling positive.

The exit poll – kicking off a night to remember

• Cathy Newman Presenter

I was expecting surprises. But I thought I knew what kind of surprises. That exit poll left me momentarily stunned, and the guys in the graphics department so gobsmacked it took them a while to punch the figures in… (The resulting delay at least gave me time to tease Jeremy Paxman about his suits.)

The exit poll is always the first big moment of the election night. And on the Channel 4 Alternative Election programme, it was my job to analyse them live as they popped up on the screen.

I’d prepared various different scenarios, the most likely of which – according to the opinion pollsters in the last few weeks – was for the Conservatives to win the most seats, but with Labour not far behind. I’d planned roughly what I’d say if Labour was in the lead, and also if the SNP surge had faded away.

Several polls had suggested the Liberal Democrats wouldn’t do as badly as expected, so I’d weighed that up too.

In the end, though, the preparation was useless, because the figures looked so unlike anything I’d dreamt up. By putting the Conservatives within spitting distance of a majority, the exit poll has kicked off a night to remember.

Read more.

Nigel Farage is hitting out at the Mail and the Sun as he arrives in South Thanet

“My congratulations to the Daily Mail and the Sun. They’re geniuses; they understand politics brilliantly. They think the Ukip vote splits the Tory vote. God help us.”

A Tory source has said that it is still too tight to call in South Thanet.

Labour’s candidate Will Scobie was also reluctant to make predictions.

He said: “I haven’t seen enough of the boxes. They are all over the place. The thing is it’s so geographically-split that you could look at two boxes and they could tell you absolutely nothing.”

Counting delays possible as people allowed to vote later

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Voters faced long queues outside polling stations beyond the 10pm deadline, although new rules meant anyone queuing up before the polls officially closed was still entitled to vote.

At around 11.30pm, Preston City Council said: “The last box has arrived! The delay was due to queues at polling stations.Tokens were given to ensure all who arrived on time could vote.”

Boris arrives at his count in Uxbridge and South Ruislip

London mayor Boris Johnson, arriving for his count in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, said that if the exit poll was right, “then obviously, it’s a very, very clear victory for the Conservatives and a very bad night for Labour”.

This is him leaving the polling station in Islington, where he lives, earlier today.

Exit polls for the last 3 elections were near perfect

• Mike Deri Smith

Tomorrow’s front pages

These are just the first additions. Most papers will have a very late final edition tonight hoping for a more solid result.

Could Douglas Alexander be scalped by the youngest MP since 1667?

• Fatima Manji Reporter

In the quiet rustling of ballot papers, there is now a real sense of tension here in Paisley South. If the SNP win here, their candidate Mhairi Black will make history as the youngest MP since 1667 – she is just 20 years old.

The current sitting MP is none other than Labour’s Campaign Manager and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander – the MP for Paisley since 1997. A Labour loss here would be devastating to the party.

There’s a turnout of 75.5 per cent, that’s up ten per cent from the last general election, a sign the Scottish electorate is hugely engaged post referendum. Watching the ballots pile up in the Alexander and Black piles…it’s so close even I’m starting to feel nervous…!

Some seats showing high turnouts

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Ten per cent up in Douglas Alexander’s seat of Paisley and up in Nuneaton which Labour really want to win.

We still don’t have an idea of overall turnout though. In 2010 it was 65.1 per cent in Britain as a whole. The Scottish referendum last year saw a turn out of 84.5%.

Conservatives hold Swindon North as Labour seeing swings to Ukip

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

This was 102 on Labour’s target list. They won’t be happy with their vote share drop here at all.

This is a much bigger swing than polls had suggested.

Conservative Justine Greening has also held on to her Putney seat, the swing to Labour of just 0.4% in Putney which is again less than Labour would have hoped.

In Labour holds we have also seen swings away from Labour – Houghton and Sunderland South and Washington and Sunderland West both saw a 7 per cent swing Lab to Ukip.

Ukip source saying Nigel Farage could lose Thanet South to Tories

Election night: What happens when?

• Jon Snow Presenter

Alistair Campbell: Labour took Scots for granted

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s spin doctor, has been talking to Paxman. He said that if the exit polls are correct it will be “very disappointing”.

“If, if the exit polls are right then you are right it is not what we expected and it is not what the opinion polls were saying”.

He says the polls are “baffling to be quite frank”and that what has happened in Scotland over recent months is pretty extraordinary”.

He adds that the No vote in the Scottish referendum has fueled the passion in Scotland for the SNP and that some of that blame lies with David Cameron.

Talk of English nationalism after the referendum results, he says, put “booster rockets on nationalism” north of the border.

He adds that if 58 Scottish seats really go to the SNP, as the exit poll predicts, it is “pretty historic, seismic stuff”.

The Labour party has to face up to the fact that because we were so strong and embedded there the Labour party “took people for granted”

Farage walks off from interview in South Thanet

Exit poll: Initial shock borne out by early results

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

Still more results seem to confirm the exit poll. Swindon North was a 4% swing to the Tories from Labour. Putney was a minuscule swing to Labour. Sadiq Khan got a 0.1% swing in Tooting and London was supposed to be a surge area for Labour. The Battersea seat, once Labour and where some optimists thought the party might just get back in, had a swing of 1.7% from Labour to the Conservatives.

Reports from Scotland suggest a Labour and Lib Dem massacre. And there are reports that Labour might even be losing East Midlands seats to the Tories.

Green Party support is around 7% in some seats where there are significant student populations and that is hurting Labour. Remember how it was David Cameron’s wheeze to bring the Greens into the tv leaders’ debate in order to hurt Labour. It seems to have worked.

Scotland seems to be on a separate political journey from England. UKIP look like taking 3rd place in share of the vote from the Lib Dems in England. With the Tories boosted close to majority status, Scots may feel more alienated than ever. When I asked. David Cameron on the campaign trail if he would increase the offer of powers to Scotland and move to a fully federal system he said he would not. But I wonder.

When he speaks later in the morning, David Cameron may want to replicate the fast footwork he pulled off in 2010 making conciliatory gestures to strengthen his claim on No. 10 if, as is quite possible, he has to run a minority government with a much smaller share of the vote behind it than the Coalition had. But with the trend if anything suggesting the exit poll might understate Tory strength a Tory majority is not out of the question.

Results so far

Labour hold Wrexham

Conservative hold Battersea

Labour hold Newcastle Central

Labour hold Tooting

Labour hold Newcastle East

Conservatives hold Putney

Conservatives hold Swindon North

Labour hold Sunderland Central

Labour hold Washington and Sunderland West

Suggestions that SNP could take all seven Labour seats in Glasgow

Betting suspending on who becomes PM

Ladbrokes have suspended betting on who will be the next Prime Minister. David Cameron was last quoted at 1/20. They are offering odds of 1/4 of Ed Miliband to be replaced as Labour leader this year.

Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: “The odds of the Conservatives forming a majority are in freefall. As a result, all bets are off when it comes to Cameron becoming the PM.”

Nick Clegg: It’s going to be a bad night for the Lib Dems

Nick Clegg’s spokesman has said it is going to be a bad night for the Lib Dems and that the Tory fear factor was driving voters towards the Conservatives.

He said the”voices of extremes” have spoken tonight.

Conservatives hold Nuneaton

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

This was a key Labour target. They got 15,945 the Conservatives have over 20,000 winning with a majority of 4,882.

This will be a big disappointment for Labour’s share down 2 per cent and Tories up 4 per cent.

Ed Miliband has been campaigning hard here.

Turnout was 67.2 per cent.

David Blunkett: This is a very, very bad night for us

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Labour’s former Home Secretary says that this is going to be a “very, very bad night for us” with many candidates in Scotland swept away by a “tsunami” of support for the SNP.

Looking cowed and genuinely upset he says that the party must not retreat into a bunker and instead must “examine” the results very carefully indeed”.

He adds that his greatest fear now is that the Conservatives could “nudge over” into majority.

He tells Sky News the only small comfort is that it will be a very different House of Commons without the solid majority the last coalition commanded.

Feeling threatened? Insults fired at the SNP

• Alex Thomson Chief Correspondent

More insults raining down on the SNP tonight with the Labour hopeful in Glasgow South calling the party a “cult”.

Curious for any person defending a 10,000+ “safe seat” to say that because it sounds like he feels threatened.

He is, of course.

Read more.

Close between Ukip and Labour in Hartlepool

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

Ukip officials excited by news of recount in Hartlepool.  They say it means it’s close between them and Labour.

Ukip not even contemplating a Farage loss

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

“I’m not even contemplating Nigel Farage losing his seat,” a senior Ukip spokesman has just told me.  “No votes have been counted yet.”

True, it’s a long way to go, but figures in both the Conservatives and Ukip are saying the Tory Craig Mackinlay (a former Ukip leader himself) is set to win South Thanet.

The big question then will be whether Nigel Farage will fulfill his promise to stand down as Ukip leader if he doesn’t become an MP. I imagine there’s be a fair clamour from Ukip members for him to change his  mind.

Farage couldn’t hide annoyance with the Sun and the Mail when he turned up to the local Ukip party a couple of hours ago.  But he could argue that tonight is a brilliant result in many ways.

In votes, Ukip are now the third party in British politics, and look set to hold second place in many seats, especially Labour seats in the North.  To go from roughly 3 per cent of the vote to around ten per  cent is a remarkable achievement.

The view from America: They aren’t that fussed

• Harry Horton

The general election campaign has passed with barely any attention in the US. The lack of foreign policy debate and cuts to military spending in recent years means that Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with America is a far cry from what it once was.

There is coverage on results on US networks tonight, but in the four hours since polls have closed it has barely added up to ten minutes of airtime.

Andy Burnham: The only job I want is to be Health Secretary

He says that people need to “wait and see” and not “jump the gun” but concedes that the party have lost a “key” Labour target in Nuneaton.

The only job I want is to be Health Secretary in Ed Miliband’s Government.

Ed Miliband leads a united Labour party and the party has fought a very strong campaign.

He says no one is thinking of anything other than how Labour is going to do tonight.

SNP take Kilmarnock from Labour with massive majority

SNP take 30,000 and Labour’s Cathy Jamieson just 16,362.

That’s a 26 per cent swing to the SNP.

Western Isles is a SNP hold with 8,662 to Labour’s 4,560.

Lib Dems first hold of the night in Ceredigion

South Thanet running an hour behind because of higher voter turnout

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

South Thanet count running at least and hour behind.  Result was expected at 6am, so now it’s likely to be 7am at best.

The main problem seems to be higher than expected turnout.  Conservatives confident of victory and say they picked up Labour supporters who wanted to stop Farage.

Douglas Alexander loses his seat to 20-year-old SNP candidate

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Douglas Alexander gets 17,864 votes to the SNPs 23,548. 20 year old Mhairi Black beats Mr Alexander by 6,000 votes making her the youngest MP since 1667.

Ms Black says that she hopes that Mr Alexander will be back in politics when he “recovers” from the result.

This is a big, if expected, blow to Labour. Alexander was a key campaign coordinator and labour shadow foreign secretary

75 per cent turnout and a massive swing to the SNP.

The SNP have gained 5 seats from Labour so far.

Lib Dems say Alex Salmond has taken Gordon

Mhairi Black is just 20 years and 238 days old today

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

By beating Douglas Alexander she has become the youngest MP since before the Great Reform Act of 1832.

SNP results so far indicate enormous swing

• Mike Deri Smith

The swing so far tonight for the SNP has been beyond what most were expecting.

A surprising 35% swing for the SNP in Paisley where Douglas Alexander has lost his seat to a 20 year old student.

And a 25.9% swing from Labour to SNP in Kilmarnock.

SNP on course to take all but one seat in Scotland.

Jo Swinson loses her seat

Lib Dems lose a high profile MP who was a minister in the coalition.

SNP 22,903 to 19,926 for Lib Dems.

Nerves among Labour in Glenda Jackson’s old seat

Conservatives take Colchester and oust Bob Russell

Conservatives take Colchester from Lib Dems. Commentators say that this is remarkable, this was a real Lib Dem stronghold.

SNP win Gordon Brown’s old seat of Kirkcaldy

Huge SNP majority here in a place which used to be a rock solid Labour seat.

Jim Murphy loses seat to SNP

Labour’s Scottish leader Jim Murphy 19,295 loses to SNP who gain 23,035 votes.

Nuneaton exposes Labour’s big weakness

• Paul Mason Economics Editor

The Nuneaton result for Labour is really bad – it’s a seat that they would have hoped to win with a small swing to them but they failed and the reason why illustrates the complications now facing the Labour party.

The biggest thing that is happening in Nuneaton is that the Lib Dem vote completely collapsed. My hunch is the large part of that went to the Tories either on the basis of voting for the real thing – ie the Tory heart of the coalition – or as urged by right wing broadsheets as a tactical vote to stop the Labour/SNP government.

I interviewed Cameron in Nuneaton on the day that the Conservatives won the local council – I asked him then does this mean that the Tories are now welcome in these mining heartlands

He said no – we’ve got a lot more to do. I wonder what he’d say today?

Mhairi Black who beat Douglas Alexander: Six months ago I didn’t think I would win

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

She has said in interviews since the win that in the future “of course” the SNP will want independence for Scotland but she didn’t see herself winning the seat six months ago.

By election day, she said, the win didn’t come as a surprise.

This is her victory speech:

SNP gain Glasgow East from Labour

Labour’s ex-shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran loses her seat.

Redcar regained for Labour from Lib Dems

Lib Dem Tim Farron holds his seat

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Mr Farron can keep his hopes of becoming Lib Dem leader alive, but sources say he is devastated at the likely depletion of his party.

Earlier tonight he said “Fear may have won the day” in this election.

Ed Davey, former Lib Dem cabinet minister loses seat to Conservatives

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

The former Secretary of State for Climate Change lost in Kingston. He is the first secretary of state to lose tonight.

Labour’s Jon Cruddas holds his seat in Dagenham

In Dagenham and Rainham Jon Cruddas gets 17,830 votes with Ukip coming in second with 12,850. The Conservatives are on 10,492.

He has a majority of 4,980.

Labour hold key Ukip target of Grimsby

Labour have also held Heywood and Middleton, another Ukip target.

Labour’s John Mann: Ed can’t say he wasn’t warned

We may not know Nigel Farage’s fate until 9.30am

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

South Thanet still not started counting votes.  We’re now told the result could be as late as 9.30am.

Lib Dems hold Orkney

This could be that one seat that doesn’t go SNP. Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem Scottish secretary remains in post.

Lynne Featherstone out as Labour take Hornsey and Wood Green

Lynne Featherstone got 18,359 votes to Catherine West for Labour with over 29,000 votes. Conservatives got 5,347 Green party took 3,146.

Simon Hughes, Lib Dem minister, loses his seat

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Labour win 22,146 votes to 17,657 for the Lib Dems in Bermondsey and Old Southwark. The Lib Dems have said that the voters will be kinder to their incumbent MPs because they are popular locally and work hard on the ground. This has not been borne out tonight.

Alex Salmond wins in Gordon

The Scottish lion has roared across Scotland tonight, Alex Salmond says in his victory speech.

Voter turnout 6 per cent higher in Scotland

• Mike Deri Smith

Douglas Carswell has won his seat for Ukip

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

He has won in Clacton with 19,642 to the Conservatives 16,205 – but his majority has been depleted.

He says to the people of Clacton “you are my boss and I will never forget that”. No mention of his other boss Nigel Farage though.

He is talking about the “dysfunctional” political system. He says 4x votes for Ukip and Greens than for the SNP and yet SNP will get many more seats.

He says that parties who enter into discussions should be “modest” to recognise that people feel unrepresented.

“The time for political reform is now, Westminster has become a cartel”.

Ukip lose in top target seat of Thurrock

Very close result here. Ukip’s Tim Aker gets 15,718 and the Conservatives’ Jackie Doyle-Price holds with 16,692.

Labour’s Polly Billington won 16,156 votes.

Ed Miliband heads to his count in Doncaster

Boris Johnson becomes an MP again

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Boris Johnson wins with 22,511 votes in Uxbridge. A majority of 10,695. Labour came second  with 11,816.

He thanks his wife Marina saying that he has just remembered it is their wedding anniversary today.

He says that the public have “rejected any attempt to take this country back to the 1970s”. He is heckled by fellow a candidate who shouts “they want change”.

He adds he will lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop the third runway at Heathrow.

Vince Cable is out

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Vince Cable loses with 23,563 with the Conservatives with over 25,000 in Twickenham.

The new Conservative MP Tania Mathias is close to tears as she thanks Vince Cable.

He says we were “hit by a very well organised national campaign based on people’s fear of a Labour government and the Scottish nationalists and we will see in the days to come what are the implications of that.”

He says this has been a “terrible night for our party all over” but that they will bounce back nationally and locally.

In Sheffield they await the imminent arrival of Nick Clegg.

Nick Clegg holds Sheffield seat

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Nick Clegg holds Sheffield Hallam with 22,215 votes to Labour’s 19,862.

He is booed as he takes the stage for his victory speech.

He says it is now “painfully clear that this is a painful and punishing night for the Lib Dems”.

The Lib Dem leader hints at the future of his position as leader. He says he has further remarks to say about that position later this morning when he speaks to his Lib Dem colleagues.

The story so far…

FactCheck’s Patrick Worrall explains: 

Tories on course for seat lead SNP “avalanche” sweeps Labour aside in Scotland Crushing losses for Lib Dems Ukip surge fails to materialise

These are the scores on the doors:

Labour               127 (-30)

Conservatives        102 (+7)

SNP                  50 (+42)

Lib Dems             6 (-20)

Ukip                 1 (+1)

Others               19

The Conservatives are on course to be the biggest party, but are likely to fall about 10 seats short of a parliamentary majority.

Could there be another Conservative/Lib Dem coalition? Possibly, but the Lib Dems have lost 20 seats at time of writing.

High-profile yellow casualties include the business secretary, Vince Cable, justice minister Mr Hughes – who lost his Southwark and Old Bermondsey seat which he has held since 1983, women’s minister Jo Swinson, home office minister Lynne Featherstone and whip Jenny Willott.

Nick Clegg has avoided personal disaster by holding on to his Sheffield Hallam seat. But he has ominously said that he will discuss his position in the party further later this morning.

The Democratic Unionist Party – who have said they could work with either a Conservative or Labour government – have held their eight seats in Northern Ireland.

Labour have held on to one seat in Scotland – Edinburgh South – and the Lib Dems have held Orkney and Shetland. Otherwise it is all SNP.

Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain said: “This is devastating for us in Scotland, where an avalanche happened and swept us aside.”

But Ukip have so far won only one seat, with Tory defector Douglas Carswell hanging on to Clacton with a reduced majority.

He blamed the electoral system for the fact that popular support for smaller parties has failed to translate into seats, saying: “Across the country about 5 million people will have either voted for Ukip or for the Green Party.

Those 5 million people will be lucky to get a tiny handful of MPs in the House of Commons.

“That failure to translate those five million votes into seats is less a reflection of how my party or the Green Party campaigned, rather it tells us how dysfunctional our political system is.”

In Thurrock, a key target seat, Ukip were forced into third place.

Mixed fortunes for Conservative ministers as Esther McVey loses her seat and Anna Soubry holds on

Esther McVey says it she always knew that she was taking on a marginal seat but she wanted to come home and represent her local area.

Keir Starmer wins in Frank Dobson’s Holborn seat

Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, is now a Labour MP with a majority of over 17,000.

Natalie Bennett failed to win another Green seat getting 7,013 votes – but this was double the Lib Dem vote and over three times Ukip, the Tories’ Will Blair received 12,014 votes.

Yvette Cooper reelected with a 15,000 majority

She has held Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

“I fear the politics of division, the politics that can pull us apart” she said in her victory speech.

Charles Kennedy defeated

Ian Blackford won 20,119 for the SNP defeating the former Lib Dem leader.

Ed Miliband wins in Doncaster North

“This has clearly been a very difficult and disappointing night for the Labour Party,” he says.

He is now going to London to wait out the rest of the results.

Ed Miliband, Labour: 20,708 

Kim Parkinson, Ukip 8,928

Mark Fletcher, Conservative 7,235

Penny Baker, Lib Dems, 1,005

Peter Kennedy, Green 757

That gives Ed Miliband a majority  of 11,780. In 2010 his majority was 10,909.

David Cameron wins in Witney

David Cameron,Conservatives: 35,201

Duncan Enright, Labour: 10.046

Andrew Garman, Lib Dem: 3,953

Stuart Macdonald, Green: 2,970

Simon Strutt, Ukip: 5,352

“This is clearly a very strong night for the Conservative Party. We’ve had a positive response to a positive campaign.”

Mr Cameron said it was “too early to say” what the final result of the General Election would be, but added that there was “the chance now to build on the foundation” laid in the last parliament

Danny Alexander loses his seat to SNP’s Drew Hendry

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey has been won by the SNP.

Danny Alexander, Lib Dem: 18,029

Drew Hendry, SNP: 28,838

Steve Webb, another Lib Dem cabinet minister, has also been ousted.

First predictions of Tory absolute majority

FactCheck’s Patrick Worrall explains

Pundits are starting to predict a working majority for the Conservatives.

BBC analysts say the Tories could end up with 325 seats. They need 323 MPs to win votes in the Commons.

The website ElectionForecast.co.uk has the Conservatives teetering on the brink at a predicted 322 seats, but that number is creeping up minute by minute as more results come in.

Obviously this could all change as more results come in.

Most forecast websites have underestimated the surge in support for the Tories, and failed to predict the scale of the disaster for the Lib Dems.

An honourable mention goes to Elections Etc, a site that has been giving better odds on a Conservative majority than most of its rivals.

The model works on the principle that opinion polls tend to underestimate support for the Conservatives – essentially it’s a variation the old story of the “shy Tory” vote, where people vote Conservative but don’t like to admit it to pollsters.

One thing most of the prediction websites have got right is that Ukip’s popular support is failing to translate into seat wins. This could come as a shock for supporters, although FactCheck has been predicting a disappointing night for Nigel Farage for some time.

Ukip’s night so far

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Top targets:

Clacton – Ukip win, 3,437

Castle Point, Ukip 2nd

Heywood and Middleton, Ukip 2nd

Thurrock – Ukip 3rd

Hartlepool – Ukip 2nd

Great Grimsby – Ukip 3rd

Dudley North – Ukip 3rd

Still to come 

South Thanet (Farage)

Rochester & Strood (Reckless)

Boston & Skegness

George Galloway loses in Bradford West

Labour, Naseem Shah: 19,977

Respect Party, George Galloway, 8,557

Norman Baker, former Lib Dem minister, loses in Lewes

PA: absolute majority for Cameron

The Press Association says the Tories are on course to win 329 seats.

That would give David Cameron an absolute majority, with no need for a deal with the Lib Dems, the DUP or anywhere else.

Labour are predicted to get just 230 seats – less than the 258 they got under Gordon Brown in 2010.

ElectionForecast.co.uk have just updated their prediction and it’s Tories 326, also an absolute majority.

Farage count delayed until 10am

More delays in Thanet South, with officials disclosing that counting had still not started by 6am, pushing the declaration back to at least 10am.

The total number of ballot papers in the seat that Ukip leader Nigel Farage was hoping to win was 47,226, with turnout at 66.07 per cent.

A night of two halves

Who have the Lib Dems lost?

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Among the party’s high profile losses:

Vince Cable out in Twickenham to the Conservatives.

Danny Alexander out in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey to the SNP.

Ed Davey out in Kingston and Surbiton to the Conservatives.

Lynne Featherstone out in Hornsey and Wood Green to Labour.

Jo Swinson out in East Dunbartonshire to the SNP.

David Laws out in Yeovil to the Conservatives.

Charles Kennedy out in Ross, Skye and Lochaber to the SNP.

Simon Hughes out in Bermondsey to Labour.

Julian Huppert out in Cambridge to Labour

George Osborne returned in Tatton

George Osborne, Conservative: 26,552

Ukip 4,871

Labour 8,311

Ed Balls recount requested in Morley

It’s thought to be so close that a recount has been called.

Lord Ashdown: I’ll now have to eat my hat

Lord Ashdown has told BBC Somerset it’s been a “bitter, painful and cruel” night for the Liberal Democrats.

He has also conceded that he “now has to eat his hat” after making a rash wager to do just that after the exit poll came in last night at 10pm.

George Osborne: Good to see the neighbour back

Chancellor George Osborne has commented on pictures of David Cameron returning to 10 Downing Street after a surprisingly strong performance from the Tories overnight.

“It’s always good to see the next door neighbour coming back after a long night’s work – and a good night’s work,” he told the BBC.

What would parliament look like under Proportional Representation?

FactCheck has taken a look at what the results would look like under a system of proportional representation, instead of the first-past-the-post system.

Based on a widely used model in Europe, it looks like the Tories would still have won the most seats but their lead would have been slashed dramatically.

Read more on FactCheck

Ukip’s Mark Reckless loses to the Tories

Ukip’s Mark Reckless has lost Rochester and Strood to the Tories.

Mr Reckless won the seat for Ukip in November 2014 having switched parties.

Ed Balls loses seat – questions “the future of our union”

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has issued a stark warning after losing his seat to the Tories, saying “questions will arise about the future of our union”.

His loss continues a tumultuous night for Labour as the Tories close in on a big win, with the SNP dominating seats in Scotland.

George Galloway loses his seat

“The hyena can dance on the loser’s grave, but it can never be a lion.”

So ended George Galloway’s tenure as Respect MP for Bradford West, after he lost the seat to his Labour rival.

David Cameron hails ‘sweetest victory’ for Tories

David Cameron has praised aides and supporters for their role in “the sweetest victory” for the Conservative party in a generation.

A video of his victory speech inside Conservative HQ, obtained by The Spectator magazine, shows him jubilant after a surprise night of gains for the Tories.

“I am not an old man, but I remember casting a vote in ’87 and that was a great victory,” he said. “I remember working just as you’ve been working in ’92 and that was an amazing victory.

“And I remember 2010, achieving that dream of getting Labour out and getting the Tories back in and that was amazing. But I think this is the sweetest victory of them all.”

Sturgeon: votes for SNP ‘were not votes for independence’

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she does not regard last night’s huge gains for the SNP across Scotland as backing for independence.

The SNP gained 50 seats overnight, taking the party’s tally of MPs to 56.

But she hailed the result as “an overwhelming vote for change in Scotland”, and pledged to push for more powers to be handed to Holyrood.

“This election wasn’t about independence. I don’t take any of the votes that were cast for the SNP yesterday as votes for independence,” she said. “They were votes to make Scotland’s voice be heard more loudly.”

Nigel Farage fails to be elected MP

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has failed in his bid to be elected as MP for Thanet South in Kent, losing to Conservative Craig Mackinlay by almost 3,000 votes.

He said before the election that he would stand down as leader if he was not elected to parliament.

Just one Ukip MP was elected: Douglas Carswell in Clacton. But the party received 13 per cent of the national vote.

General election results: what happened overnight?

Like the “red wedding” – that’s Jon Snow’s verdict on the utter carnage from last night. Who’s in and who’s out?

Jon explains what happened and what it means for the country’s future.

Nigel Farage resigns

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has resigned after failing to win the South Thanet seat.

“On a professional level, I express today a degree of disappointment,” he said.

“On a personal level, I feel an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and I’ve never felt happier.”

He announced before the 7 May election that he would quit if he did not make it to Westminster.

As it happened: Nick Clegg resigns

As it happened: Nigel Farage resigns

Nigel Farage resigns – or does he?

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

​NIgel Farage has just been speaking on the white cliffs of Kent. He said other politicians break their promises but he would honour his.

He said he would stand down as leader if he failed to win election to the Commons and he would do just that. Well, almost.

He actually announced he’d take a leave of absence for the summer to enjoy himself. He even said who should be his temporary replacement – Suzanne Evans – his close ally and someone who has repeatedly said she would try to persuade him not to honour the pledge if he tried to go ahead with it.

He could be back as leader as soon as September, which makes you wonder if that counts as an honoured pledge.

Maybe he was just keeping his options open a crack, and has no real intention of returning to the leadership.

But he sounded like a man who couldn’t quite bring himself to walk away, even if he did manage a swipe at colleagues who’d failed him over the years.

Nick Clegg warns of ‘perilous moment’ for UK as he steps aside

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

Nick Clegg, unlike Nigel Farage, resigned without a threat to come back.

He said it was a “very dark hour” for his party, but the party would come back and win again.

While his coalition partner David Cameron fished out a fresh shirt to see the Queen, Nick Clegg was making a public announcement that he was quitting his job and warning that the country was at a “perilous moment”, a time of “grave jeopardy”, as the “politics of grievance and fear” dominated the scene.

Nick Clegg looked shattered and his mood wouldn’t have picked up if he’d heard what a predecessor said on the BBC straight after he’d finished speaking.

Lord (David) Steel said the results overnight had “set back the progress of Liberalism for several decades”, and that the party needed to return to Paddy Ashdown’s progressive coalition agenda and away from the image of propping up the Tories.

He continued his criticism of Nick Clegg’s leadership, saying: “You can’t campaign on one thing, do something else and expect to get away with it.”

He also piled in saying that Nick Clegg should have given old hands like Malcolm Bruce and Ming Campbell ministerial jobs.

He’d been a good deputy prime minister but not so good a Lib Dem leader, he added.

Lord Steel dubbed Tim Farron the “favourite” to succeed Nick Clegg.

Ed Miliband resigns

Ed Miliband has resigned as Labour leader after his party’s poor showing in the general election and near wipeout in Scotland.

Opinion polls during the election campaign had forecast a hung parliament, with Labour and Conservatives neck and neck. But the Tories performed better, and Labour worse, than expected.

David Cameron is on course for a majority, without the need for a coalition partner. Not only did Labour fail to improve on its 2010 election showing, it also lost seats, many of them in Scotland to the SNP.

Tories win overall majority

The Conservative party has won 326 seats in the House of Commons, giving it an overall majority and cementing David Cameron’s position as prime minister.

Three party leaders resign in 90 minutes

Ed Miliband’s must be the biggest emotional shock to the individual concerned.

Unlike Nigel Farage, he hasn’t just announced a potential leave of absence; unlike Nick Clegg who thought his time in government was quite possibly over and therefore his time as leader too.

Mr Miliband before the polls shut last night thought No. 10 was within his grasp, that he might confound the doubters and get into No. 10.

There were back channel conversations with the Lib Dems about a possible deal that could involve asking the SNP MPs to abstain in any confidence vote to spare Labour the embarrassment of supporting him.

All that went out the door when the exit poll emerged at 10pm and was quickly confirmed by early results that suggested, if anything, that the exit poll had underestimated the Labour rout.

Read more: Gary Gibbon’s blog

Cameron pledges ‘world’s strongest devolved government’ for Scotland

David Cameron gave a short victory speech after his audience with the Queen to form a new government.

His Tory party has won an overall majority in the House of Commons, marking and end to the coalition that was formed in 2010, and sparking the resignations of three of his rival party leaders: Labour’s Ed Miliband, coalition partner Nick Clegg and Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Cameron recognised the huge shift in Britain’s politics after the SNP swept to a huge victory in Scotland, all but wiping out the other parties.

On Scotland, Mr Cameron pledged “to create the strongest devolved government anywhere in the world”.

He pledged to “implement as fast as I can the devolution that all parties agreed for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland”.

“With our plans, the governments of these nations will become more powerful with wider responsibilities,” he said.

“We must ensure that we bring our country together… we will govern as a party of one nation, one United Kingdom.”

He also promised to “deliver that in/out referendum on our future in Europe”.

In a nod to one of his pre-elections slogans, he added: “We can make Britain a place where a good life is in reach for everyone who is willing to work and do the right thing.”

Ukip’s deputy chairman rejects endorsement as interim leader

Ukip’s Deputy Chairman Suzanne Evans has turned down an endorsement from Nigel Farage to become the party’s interim leader, referring the decision to the party’s decision-making forum.

Mr Farage announced earlier that he would be stepping down after failing to win his target seat South Thanet. He proposed Ms Evans as the party’s interim leader.

“I am of course honoured that Nigel has proposed me as interim leader of the party, whose hard working activists and supporters have propelled us so far,” she said.

“However the position is not mine to accept but must go to the National Executive Committee.

“They will meet in the coming days to decide who the party wants to act in the role of interim leader until such time as we organise a democratic vote of the party to decide an new Leader in due course.”

Number of female MPs rises – just

Belinda Phipps, who chairs the Fawcett Society, has praised the increase, “albeit a small increase”, in the number of women elected MPs.

“We particularly welcome the fact that the parties are turning to women to lead the way, with two new party leaders in Harriet Harman for Labour and Suzanne Evans for Ukip,” she added.

“Together with Nicola Sturgeon and Natalie Bennett that makes women a formidable force in the new political world.”

Ms Evans had been endorsed by Nigel Farage as Ukip’s interim leader, but she has since declined the honour, saying the decision needs to be made by the party’s executive committee.

Danish PM celebrates election of hubby Stephen Kinnock

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the prime minister of Denmark, has celebrated the election of her husband to the House of Commons.

Stephen Kinnock – none other than son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock – was elected for the Aberavon constituency in South Wales, winning 49 per cent of the vote for Labour.

He becomes the second generation of Kinnocks to see predicted victory slip through Labour’s fingers, after his father led Labour to their 1992 defeat at the hands of John Major and the Tories, who won by just a few seats.

Independent inquiry launched into ‘inaccurate’ election polling

An investigation has been launched into pre-election polls that underestimated the Tory tally of seats won.

The British Polling Council said the final opinion polls before the vote “were clearly not as accurate as we would like“.

“The fact that all the pollsters underestimated the Conservative lead over Labour suggests that the methods that were used should be subject to careful, independent investigation,” it added.

The body will look into “the possible causes of this apparent bias, and to make recommendations for future polling”.

Ukip: the leadership contenders

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Nigel Farage today announced he would stand down as leader of Ukip after failing to win his target seat South Thanet.

He anointed Suzanne Evans as his preferred choice for interim leader, but she rejected the idea. So is she in line to take over – and who might she be up against?

Suzanne Evans

Ms Evans surprised commentators with her assured performance in the election campaign.

She is a confident performer in the media and seems far less gaffe prone or aggressive than some of her colleagues.

She didn’t win a seat but being elected has not been a precondition of leading the Ukip party so far. Indeed Ms Evans failed to win a seat in the European election and lost her spot as a councillor last year before becoming Deputy Chairman.

Ukip would also like to be able to announce that they are one of the more progressive parties in the country putting forward a woman to lead.

Douglas Carswell

As Mark Reckless’ loss in Rochester and Strood has shown, Mr Carswell has taken a bit big political risk in defecting to Ukip but his decision has left him as the party’s single MP in Westminster which must surely leave him with some claim to a leadership bid.

Rumours have abounded that there is a gulf between Mr Carswell and Mr Farage and the party leadership, with the former rarely appearing at official Ukip events.

He also failed to publicly back Mr Farage on one of his most controversial policies: barring HIV positive foreigners from accessing the NHS.

He used his victory speech to outline what he thought the key focus of Ukip’s campaign should be: voter reform to get better representation for the votes they received.

Paul Nuttall

The most salt of the earth Ukip candidate, Mr Nuttall is a comp boy from a working class family in the dockyard town of Bootle near Liverpool. He’s everything that Nigel Farage was not.

He also wants the top job and could be hard to manage in any other role. Earlier this year he told the New Statesman that he wouldn’t be any one else’s deputy.

He has also served as Mr Farage’s deputy for the last five years.

As Ukip re-group after the dissapointment of one seat in the Commons he may not have a soft enough touch to bring all the party’s supporters together.

He supports reintroducing the death penalty for child murderers, serial killers and those who murder police officers and wants to toughen up abortion law.

Nigel Farage

Mr Farage has been the face of Ukip for so long that the rest of the party has often been accused of being a rag tag bunch following a one man band. The former Ukip leader is cowed today. Losing in South Thanet was expected early in the night but must have hurt after a long campaign and all those column inches dedicated to him.

He has stepped down for the summer, handing in the reigns temporarily to Suzanne Evans but he has not said he is gone for good.

He’s come back before (he was leader between 2006-2009 before stepping down) and he could do it again.

Who will lead the Lib Dems now?

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Last night was a horrible, brutal night for the Lib Dems but their almost complete wipeout does make the matter of choosing a new that much easier: there’s barely anyone left to pick from.

Big hitters Vince Cable, Danny Alexander and Ed Davey are gone so whoever it is it will be a relative unknown.

Tim Farron A former president of the Liberal Democrats, managed to hang on in Westmorland and Lonsdale with a reduced majority. He is seen a popular figure among grassroots members and would be likely to focus all of his energies in winning back the parties traditional sandal wearing masses who have abandoned the party in their droves.

A practicing Christian, left-leaning, comp-educated and Northern and a tempting alternative to the Euro-phile, Westminster alumni Mr Clegg.

Norman Lamb

He was a popular minister in the coalition government and held the important care portfolio. He’s long been talked about as a possible future leader and he himself has not ruled out a leadership bid.

However, he is close to Nick Clegg and this relationship could poison his chances with Lib Dem members who want a clean break after the disastrous results last night and someone who has not been involved in the coalition.

Alistair Carmichael

The only LIb Dem to retain his seat who took up a cabinet position in the coalition government. He is more of a centirst option that Farron successfully transcending the left/right divide of his party and will appeal to some as a statesmanlike alternative to Tim Farron.

He held on to his seat in Orkney in the face of a SNP surge, leaving him the only Lib Dem MP in Scotland. The very position of his seat on the outter reaches of the UK could work against him in any bid to lead his party in the rest of the UK.

Russell Brand realises he can’t influence elections

Russell Brand has woken up the the news of a Tory majority, and offers the excuse “it’s not like I’m the leader of the Don’t Vote party”.

He goes on the blame the “old media” and “establishment”.

Self-described “revolutionary” Brand’s Headline grabbing interview with Ed Miliband was watched 1.2million times globally.

“My only regret in this is I thought I could be involved,” the comedian concludes.

“Change can happen…Syriza happened in Greece, Podemos happened in Spain…politics has changed.”

The Lib Dems don’t have a single woman left

For a party that has struggled to recruit women in the past and had just two women minister and no women in he cabinet during coalition this is not good news.

After the party decided not to take disciplinary action against its former chief executive, Lord Rennard, who has always denied allegations that he sexually harassed female colleagues – commentators wondered how the Lib Dems would ever deal with their women problem.

These results will not help: 1. Lorely Burt (Solihull) 2010: Win 0.3 per cent, 175 votes. 2015: Loss to Conservative Julian Knight.

2. Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset) Stepping down. 2010: Win, 0.6 per cent, 269 votes. 2015: Successor Vikki Slade lost to Conservatives

3. Tessa Munt (Wells) Stepping down. 2010: Win 1.4 per cent, 800 votes. 2015: Loss to Conservatives.

4. Sarah Teather (Brent Central) 2010: Win 3.0 per cent, 1,345 vote. 2015: Lauren Keith, Teather’s Lib Dem successor massive loss to Labour

5. Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) 2010: Win 4.6 per cent, 2,184 votes 2015: Loss to SNP

6. Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central) 2010: Win 12.7 per cent, 4,576 votes 2015: Loss to Labour

7.  Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green) 12.5 per cent, 7,875 votes 2010: Loss to Labour

And those 8 men who kept them Nick Clegg, Sheffield Hallam Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale Norman Lamb, Norfolk North Alistair Carmichael, Orkney and Shetland Greg Mulholland, Leeds North West Mark Williams, Ceredigion Tom Brake, Carshalton and Wallington John Pugh, Southport

Cameron’s cabinet appointments

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced his first cabinet appointments after his election victory – and there are no changes.

I have re-appointed George Osborne as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He will also be First Secretary of State – the ranking Cabinet Minister.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 8, 2015

George Osborne, whose “long-term economic plan” was at the centre of the Conservatives’ election campaign, and Theresa May remain as chancellor and home secretary respectively.

Mr Osborne becomes the most senior cabinet minister under the prime minister after being given the first secretary of state title previously held by William Hague, Peter Mandelson, John Prescott and Michael Heseltine.

Philip Hammond remains as foreign secretary. He will play a key part in Mr Cameron’s plans  to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union ahead of an in/out referendum by the end of 2017.

Michael Fallon will continue as defence secretary.

Lib Dem defeat hard to swallow?

Last night Lord Ashdown claimed he would publicly eat his hat if poll predictions that his party would lose 47 seats were right.

This offering might make the task easier for him.

Read more: Why did the pollsters get it so wrong?

David Miliband: my ‘heart goes out’ to brother Ed

Heart goes out to great colleagues who lost seats, Labour teams who worked so hard and of course to Ed. (1/2)

— David Miliband (@DMiliband) May 8, 2015

Deep and honest thinking required to rebuild progressive politics. (2/2)

— David Miliband (@DMiliband) May 8, 2015

Is something rotten in the state of Britain?

• Matt Frei Presenter

Sifting through the Lib Dems’ ashes

• Siobhan Kennedy Business Editor

Labour haven’t just failed to win – it’s worse than that

• Paul Mason Economics Editor

What now for Labour after Ed Miliband?

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

How the SNP became a political powerhouse

• Alex Thomson Chief Correspondent

How three party leaders resigned within 90 minutes

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

Will Self and Toby Young debate the ‘politics of fear’ from the election campaign

• Jon Snow Presenter

Whatever happened to the #EdStone?

• Jon Snow Presenter