Election morning briefing: Tories to win most seats amid Lib Dem bloodbath
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Version 0 of 1. Good morning. For those who stayed up all night, and for those who are just rising and wondering what on earth is going on – here’s what the night has brought us. What we know The polls were wrong. The suggestion, right up to the wire on polling day, that the Tories and Labour were neck and neck has not been borne out. It is clear that the Conservatives will be the largest party by some margin. They might even sneak a small majority. Labour has been ripped apart in Scotland, where it has had just one seat returned: Edinburgh South. It has failed to see the breakthrough it needed in England and is predicted to emerge from the counting with 232 seats, well down on predictions. The Liberal Democrats have been obliterated nationwide. Though Nick Clegg retained his seat in Sheffield Hallam, and the Scottish secretary, Alistair Carmichael, held on, all the other Lib Dem cabinet ministers – Danny Alexander, Vince Cable and Ed Davey – lost their seats. So did ministers Jo Swinson, David Laws and Lynne Featherstone. The SNP has stormed across Scotland, scooping up all seven seats in Glasgow and toppling Labour big beasts Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander. Exit polls predicted it could take 58 out of Scotland’s 59 seats. Alex Salmond will be heading back to Westminster after winning in Gordon. Ukip has had a quiet night, scoring a number of second-place finishes but so far securing just one MP, Douglas Carswell, who returns in Clacton. George Galloway, for Respect, has lost his seat in Bradford West to Labour’s Naz Shah. Boris Johnson is on his way back to the Commons, having won in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Here are the revised BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll projections at 6am on Friday:. What we still don’t know Stay with the live blog throughout Friday, where we will bring you all the latest as results continue to pile in. |