Ed Miliband today threw in the towel after a series of crushing election losses, as he said he was 'deeply sorry' for Labour's 'difficult and disappointing' election night.
David Cameron has secured an extraordinary victory as 'shy Tories' came out at the last moment to keep him in Downing Street, with a 6am results forecast suggesting he will win 325 seats - exactly half of the Commons. With Sinn Fein not taking their seats and the Speaker not voting, it effectively gives the Tories a majority.
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.
But the Tory leader will have to deal with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon who is cleaning up north of the border, leaving Scotland as a near one-party state.
In a signal that he now accepts he will not be PM, Mr Miliband said the next government 'has a huge responsibility' to hold the UK together.
The SNP tide has swept aside Labour and Lib Dem big beasts including Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander in a tide of nationalism which has already sparked calls for a second independence referendum.
There are doubts that Mr Miliband will survive as leader until Friday lunchtime, as he faces being left with fewer seats than Gordon Brown, slumping to 239.
The Lib Dems are fighting for their survival as a political party, with ministers including Vince Cable, Ed Davey, Simon Hughes, Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson already voted out and Danny Alexander expected to follow them.
Nick Clegg clung on to his seat in Sheffield Hallam but revealed he will make an announcement about his leadership later this morning after a 'cruel and punishing night' for the Lib Dems.
Some 50million people were eligible to vote in the most closely fought campaign in a generation. Opinion polls in recent weeks had Labour and the Tories neck and neck, suggesting Britain faced political deadlock.
But an exit poll released at 10pm on Thursday suggested voters switched to the Conservatives at the last moment, suggesting Mr Cameron would win 316 seats.
My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom
Tory leader David Cameron
By 6am, a revised forecast was even better for the Tory leader, putting him on course to win 325 seats, exactly half the number of seats in the Commons.
Mr Cameron all but declared victory in a speech in his Witney constituency, in which he made clear he plans to lead a Tory government, offering an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union and to build on the economic foundations laid by the coalition since 2010.
'My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom,' he said.
He made clear he was determined not to allow the rising tide of nationalism to lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom, saying: 'I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland.
'In short, I want my party, and I hope a Government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost - the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days.'
In an extraordinary night of political drama:
- The Conservatives made gains from both Labour and the Lib Dems while holding back the Ukip threat, as Mr Cameron inches closer to a majority than he managed in 2010
- Boris Johnson easily won his seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to return to the Commons after seven years, but Employment Minister Esther McVey became the first Tory member of the Cabinet to be voted out
- Scotland is on course to be a one-party state, with the SNP sweeping the board in Scotland, defeating Labour's Scottish leader Jim Murphy, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander and Lib Dem minister Jo Swinson
- Ed Miliband faces a leadership crisis, as the exit poll puts Labour on course for the worst election result since Neil Kinnock led them to a crushing defeat against Margaret Thatcher in 1987
There are doubts that Mr Miliband will survive as leader until Friday lunchtime, as he faces being left with fewer seats than Gordon Brown, slumping to 239.
At 6am the BBC produced a new seats forecast, which suggested the Tories will win 325 seats, commanding a slender Commons majority.
- The Lib Dems suffered a bloodbath, losing dozens of seats including senior ministers like Vince Cable and Jo Swinson. As Mr Clegg held his seat he said he would be discussing his leadership with Lib Dem colleagues after a 'cruel and punishing night for his party'
- Ukip leader Nigel Farage faces the battle of his life to win his seat in South Thanet. Without it, he has vowed to quit as party leader raising doubts about the future of Ukip as a political force. Douglas Carswell, who defected to Ukip from the Tories last year, held Clacton
- Left-wing firebrand George Galloway lost in Bradford West to Labour
Senior Conservatives could not contain their delight as the results rolled in. The Tories' resurgence was especially impressive in Wales, where they enjoyed their best election showing for 32 years.
Among the 11 Conservative MPs returned in Wales was Byron Davies, who won Gower by just 27 votes. He took the seat – which has been held by Labour since 1910 - with 15,862 votes to the 15,835 gained by Labour's Liz Evans.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who returns to the Commons as an MP, said voters had rejected Mr Miliband's bid to return Britain to the 1970s.
He said: 'It is clear to me that the people of this country want us to go forward with sensible, moderate policies that the Conservative party has produced over the last five years.'
Mr Miliband pinned his hopes of victory on making gains in England to outweigh losses in Scotland. The Labour leader needed to win around 50 seats from the Tories to stand any chance of becoming Prime Minister,
This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party
Labour leader Ed Miliband
Instead he faces the prospect of having to resign within hours, after his bid to return Labour to power in just five years ended in dismal failure.
Mr Miliband said: 'This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party.
'I want to say to all the dedicated and decent colleagues in Scotland who have lost their seats that I am deeply sorry for what has happened.
And I also want to say that the next government has a huge responsibility. It has a huge responsibility in facing the very difficult task of keeping our country together.
'Whatever party we come from, if we believe in the United Kingdom we should stand up for people in every part of our United Kingdom because I believe that what unites us is much, much more than what divides us.'
The exit poll suggests Mr Miliband is on course to perform even worse than his predecessor Gordon Brown in 2010 to be left with the lowest number of MPs since the party under Neil Kinnock was hammered by Margaret Thatcher.
A Labour HQ source told the New Statesman: 'Ed has to resign tomorrow, everyone here accepts that.'
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