David Cameron today vowed to make Great Britain 'greater still' as he set out how he will use his shock outright Tory majority to ensure the 'good life is in reach for everyone who's willing to work and do the right thing'.
The Prime Minister used a statement outside Number 10 to pay tribute to both Labour's Ed Miliband and his former Lib Dem deputy Nick Clegg who have both resigned after suffering heavy losses in one of the most unpredictable election results for a generation.
Mr Cameron returned to Number 10 with his wife Samantha after making the short trip to Buckingham Palace for a meeting with the Queen to confirm what he described as the 'sweetest victory of all'.
Big political names including Ed Balls, Vince Cable, Ed Davey, Doulgas Alexander, David Laws, Jim Murphy and Esther McVey all lost their seats as the political map of Britain was dramatically redrawn with vast swathes of Tory blue and SNP yellow.
In an incredible night of political drama, Labour suffered a bloodbath in Scotland and failed to make any gains in England. Mr Miliband said he accepted 'absolute and total responsibility' for the electoral disaster, and resigned with immediate effect. His deputy Harriet Harman also announced she will stand aside.
Mr Clegg, who was left as just one of eight MPs to survive the near-destruction of the Lib Dems, also resigned - admitting he had led the party to its worst ever defeat.
It came after Ukip's Nigel Farage threw in the towel within minutes of receiving confirmation that he had lost his bid to enter Parliament. But in a surprise announcement Mr Farage suggested he could return as party leader in the Autumn.
Mr Cameron said he would use the 331 MPs he will have in the Commons to implement the Tory manifesto in full, promising more apprenticeships, income tax cuts and an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
But he also signalled that he would sign off a massive devolution of powers to Scotland, after Nicola Sturgeon's SNP stunned everyone to win 56 of 59 seats in Scotland.
With the world's media gathered in Downing Street, a visibly relieved Mr Cameron said he wanted to finish the job of fixing Britain's economy.
The Prime Minister said: ‘When I stood here five years ago – our country was in the grip of an economic crisis. Five years on Britain is so much stronger.
‘But the real opportunities lie ahead. Everything I’ve seen over the last five years and indeed over this election campaign has proved once again that this is a country with unrivalled skills and creativeness. A country with such good humour and such great compassion.
‘I’m convinced that if we can draw on all of this, then we can take these islands with our proud history and build an even prouder future – together we can make Great Britain greater still.’
Mr Cameron was in his ministerial car making the short trip from Downing Street to the Palace at 12.30pm, when news through that the Tories had officially secured the 326 seats needed for an outright majority.
Just minutes earlier a dejected Mr Miliband told supporters at the party’s HQ that he was to blame for the defeat but insisted he had fought the right campaign.
He said: 'I believe Britain needed a Labour government and I still do, but the public decided otherwise. Now it’s time for someone else to take leadership of this party. So I am tendering my resignation.'
Mr Miliband quit with the final results still to be called – but the Tories on course to win 331 seats, giving them a surprise five-seat majority.
Labour is expected to finish with just 232 MPs, down 24, in its worst result since Neil Kinnock lost to Margaret Thatcher in 1987. The Lib Dems finished with just eight seats in its worst ever electoral defeat.
Mr Clegg, who spent five years as Deputy Prime Minister but voters reject his decision to enter government, admitted it had been a 'cruel and punishing night'.
Mr Cameron used his speech to pay warm tribute to his two rivals with whom he has traded blows in a fraught, and often deeply personal election campaign.
He said: ‘I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen and I will now form a majority Conservative government. I've been proud to lead the first Coalition government in 70 years and I want to thank all those who worked so hard to make it a success. And in particular on this day, Nick Clegg.
‘Elections can be bruising clashes of ideas and arguments and a lot of people who believe profoundly in public service have seen that service cut short.
‘Ed Miliband rang me this morning to wish me luck with the new government. It was a typically generous gesture from someone who is clearly in public service for all the right reasons.'
He said he hoped to build on the 'foundations' laid by the coaliton government, but able to implement the Tory manifesto in full without having to compromise with a coalition partner.
Britain, he said, is 'on the brink of something special'. 'We can make Britain a place where a good life is in reach for everyone who is willing to ork and do the right thing. Our manifesto is a manifesto for working people and as a majority government we will be able to deliver all of it.
‘Indeed it is the reason why I think majority government is more accountable.’
But he also acknowledged the extraordinary surge in Scottish nationalism, which left the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems with just a single MP each north of the border.
Promising to 'bring our country together', Mr Cameron vowed to 'govern as a party of one nation – one United Kingdom'. ‘That means ensuring this recovery reaches all parts of our country – from north to south, from east to west – and indeed it means rebalancing our economy. Building that northern powerhouse.
‘It means giving everyone in our country a chance, so no matter where you are from you have the opportunity to make the most of your life. It means giving the poorest people the chance of training – a job and hope for the future.
‘It means for children who don’t get the best start in life, there must be the nursery education and good schooling that can transform their life chances.
‘And of course it means bringing together the different nations of our United Kingdom. I have always believed in government with respect – that’s why in the last parliament we devolved power to Scotland and Wales and gave the people of Scotland a referendum on whether to stay within the United Kingdom.'
He promised to 'stay true to my word and implement as fast as I can the devolution that all parties agreed for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland'.
It would mean handing new tax, benefit and legal powers to the Scottish Parliament, making it the 'strongest devolved government anywhere in the world – with important powers over taxation.’
But in a nod to future laws banning Scottish MPs from voting on English issues, Mr Cameron added: ‘No constitutional settlement will be complete if it did not also offer fairness to England.’
In a night of surprises, the SNP's rise was one of the most striking, picking up 50 seats to move to 56 MPs, while Plaid Cymru stayed level on three, Ukip lost one of its two seats and the Greens held their only seat in Brighton.
After the scale of the Tory victory became clear, Mr Cameron this morning declared his intention to 'govern for everyone in our United Kingdom' - a recognition of extraordinary gains by the SNP, which almost swept the board in Scotland.
He told cheering Conservative activists at the party’s London HQ that the result was ‘a great victory’, adding: ‘I remember 1992 and that was an amazing victory. I remember 2010 achieving that dream of getting Labour out and getting the Tories back in.’ But he added: ‘But I think this is the sweetest victory of all.’
In Scotland, 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.
For weeks opinion polls had suggested Labour and the Conservatives were neck and neck, but it soon became clear that so-called 'shy Tories' had swung behind Mr Cameron to deliver him the majority which eluded him five years ago.
He will face a challenge passing legislation which relies on the right-wing backbenchers who had been outnumbered by the Lib Dems in the coalition.
But he insisted that he would rather have an outright majority - all be a slender one - to implement his reform plans in full.
While the Tories celebrate, Labour, the Lib Dems and Ukip were left licking their wounds and contemplating what went wrong - and who could reverse their fortunes as a new leader.
Mr Miliband announced he was quitting as Labour leader after calling Mr Cameron to congratulate him on his extraordinary election victory.
He insisted he took full responsibility for the dreadful night of results, which saw big Labour names including Ed Balls, Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy swept out by the Tories and the SNP.
He thanked his supporters for their backing, selfies and the 'most unlikely cult ever' Milifandom, as he confirmed Harriet Harman will take over as acting leader.
'I am truly sorry I did not succeed. I did my best for five years,' he said. 'We've come back before and this party will come back again.'
In the final days of a much-mocked campaign he pinned his hopes of victory on an interview with Russell Brand and carving his pledges onto an 8ft, £30,000 slab of limestone to convince voters he could be trusted at the helm of the nation.
But in result after result, he saw voters reject his plan to take Britain to the left, suffering heavy losses in Scotland, Wales and England.
The full-scale of the electoral disaster became clear just before 8.30am when shadow chancellor Ed Balls lost his seat to the Tories by just 422 votes.
Mr Miliband took on his brother David for the Labour leadership, tearing his family in half because he thought he would do a better job.
But the electorate disagreed, with no poll ever showing that they could see the bacon sandwich-eating, two kitchen-owning, millionaire socialist as Prime Minister.
The Lib Dems have been reduced to a rump of just eight MPs, with ministers including Vince Cable, Danny Alexander, David Laws, Ed Davey, Simon Hughes, Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson all voted out.
Leftwinger Tim Farron emerged as the frontrunner to replace Mr Clegg, to begin trying to rebuild the party after its worst ever result since its formation in 1988.
Across the country, Ukip secured as many votes as the SNP and Lib Dems combined, but will finish with just one MP.
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 showed voters had switched to the Conservatives at the last moment, suggesting Mr Cameron would win 316 seats. However, as the night wore on, the scale of the Tory victory proved to be even more convincing.
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. But then at 12.30pm, Mr Cameron was looking at a five-seat majority - winning 331 seats - the best Tory result since 1992.
Mr Cameron had all but declared victory in a speech in his Witney constituency in the early hours of the morning, in which he made clear he planned 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.
But in a nod to the political tsunami in Scotland he added: 'My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom.'
Mr Cameron 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.'
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,
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.'
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.'
Former Labour Cabinet minister Jack Straw told Sky News: 'It is for Mr Miliband to make up his mind about his future.'
Ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett said: 'We must not revert to the far left. We must not allow ourselves to turn inwards. We must try to heal the hurt that people will be feeling and, above all, we should be gathering wherever we can, support in the House of Commons.'
Tessa Jowell, the Blairite former Labour minister, told the BBC: 'You can't lay all this on Ed Miliband. What has happened in Scotland to Labour has not just happened in the last three of four years. We do not need a new leader and this is not the time to talk about whether we need a new leader or not.'
Earlier Mr Balls was branded 'mad and delusional' after claiming Labour could try to run the country even if it finishes 50 seats behind the Conservatives.
Speaking to Iain Dale on LBC, Mr Balls said: 'David Cameron can't be Prime Minister if there is no majority in the House of Commons for a centre right government. If David Cameron cannot get a majority he will stand down.
Mr Dale said: 'Are you seriously telling me that if this result is true that David Cameron would have to stand down. That's delusional.'
Mr Balls said: 'If that exit poll is out by ten seats I think it's unlikely in those circumstances that David Cameron will be able to form a government.
'He will then stand down, Ed Miliband will become the Prime Minister and he will put a progressive Queen's Speech and Budget before Parliament.'
In fact the results are even better for the Tories than the early exit poll suggested.
The Lib Dems had a truly terrible night, with Mr Clegg preparing to resign after losing four in five of his MPs.
Reacting to the Lib Dems' national wipe-out, Mr Clegg said it was 'painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night' for his party and made it clear his own position as leader was vulnerable.
He added: 'This election has profound implications for the country, it also has profound implications for the Liberal Democrats.'
Mr Clegg added that he would be making 'further remarks about the implications of this election both for the country and for the party I lead and for my position in the Liberal Democrats' when he had spoken to colleagues at Westminster.
Treasury minister Danny Alexander, who served as Chancellor George Osborne's for five years, was one of the biggest casualties of the night along with other high-profile Cabinet ministers including Ed Davey and David Laws.
Jo Swinson, a business minister once tipped as a future Lib Dem leader lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire.
Mr Cable blamed a campaign of 'fear' by the Tories for a 'terrible night' for the Liberal Democrats as he became the latest in a string of high-profile party figures to lose their seats.
The Business Secretary was defeated by Conservative Tania Mathias by 25,580 votes to 23,563 in the seat he had held since 1997.
'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 that follow what are the implications,' he said.
'It has been a marvellous experience and an honour being the MP for this constituency. Unfortunately this has been a terrible night for our party all over.
'But I am absolutely sure that we are going to bounce back both nationally and locally.'
Earlier former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown said he would 'eat his hat' if the party was left with only 10 seats. He told the BBC's Andrew Neil: 'If this exit poll is right Andrew, I will publicly eat my hat on your programme.' When asked if he had a hat with him, he said: 'I'll get one.'
However, the Lib Dems lost their deposits in the 314 seats, costing the party £157,000. For a candidate to keep their £500 deposit, they must gain five per cent of the vote in a constituency, and so far the Lib Dems have lost deposits in seven seats.
In the first seat to declare of Houghton and Sunderland South, the party only gained 791 votes of the 38,498 votes cast, finishing behind both Ukip and the Green party.
Mr Clegg pinned his hopes of survival on a pitch to voters that the Lib Dems would give the Tories a 'heart' and Labour a 'brain'.
But the party was left fighting battles on three fronts, with the SNP wiping them out in Scotland, Labour making gains in the north of England and the Tories hoping to turn much of the West Country blue.
The loss of dozens of Commons seats would heap pressure on Mr Clegg's leadership and he could even lose his own seat.
Tim Farron, the frontrunner to be leader if Mr Clegg is disposed, told the BBC: 'I'm not going to pretend this is a good night for the Liberal Democrats. Fear may have won the day.'
The Lib Dems' demise in the start of an astonishing election surge for the SNP, which is set to sweep almost every Scottish Labour MP out of Parliament.
Top Labour sources said the party was facing a 'disaster zone' in Glasgow, as it lost all but one of the seats in the city.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy lost his East Renfrewshire seat and shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who masterminded the Labour election campaign, was ousted in Paisley and Renfrewshire South.
Gordon Brown's once-safe Labour seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath also fell to the SNP, as the former Prime Minister retired from the Commons.
Former Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond was said to have won 'comfortably' in Gordon, north-east Scotland, said party sources.
Huge gains by the SNP have seen Ms Sturgeon's party break swing records 12 times by 3am, as they swept aside Lib Dem and Labour MPs
The divisive politician swept away the Lib Dem's near-7,000 majority – almost certainly allowing him to lead the SNP's bumper delegation at Westminster.
In Kilmarnock, the SNP overturned a Labour majority of 12,378 to win by a margin of more than 13,600 votes. It marked a heavy defeat for Cathy Jamieson, a former shadow Treasury minister under Ed Balls.
Tory chief whip Michael Gove was quick to declare that if the exit poll is right, the Conservatives have 'clearly won'.
He told the BBC: 'I think it could be right, yes. If it is right it means the Tories have clearly won this election and Labour have clearly lost it.'
Tory environment secretary Liz Truss told Sky News the Conservatives would not get ahead of themselves based on the exit poll.
She said: 'It is certainly encouraging to see those results. It's far too early to speculate (on a government) because we don't know how that is going to translate precisely into a number of seats.
'What we are seeing across the country is different things happening in different parts of the country.'
Mr Miliband's leadership was left hanging by a thread tonight after the bombshell exit poll suggested he was on course for an electoral drubbing.
The Labour leader needed to win around 50 seats from the Tories to stand any chance of becoming Prime Minister.
But, according to tonight's exit poll, 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.
There were even rumours that shadow chancellor Ed Balls could lose his seat in Morley and Outwood, something he strongly denied.
He told ITV News: 'Clearly the exit poll has caught everyone by surprise because it jars with the different opinion polls we've seen in the last few days and today.
'It's very different from what we've been hearing on the ground right across the country. It's still very early days. We need to see what happens when the actual results come in.'
Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock made the extraordinary claim that the 'self-delusion' of voters who wanted tax cuts and financial security had handed victory to the Tories.
He told the BBC: 'If it is the fact that there's been a Tory surge, it will be attributable to the usual reality that people, whatever they tell the opinion pollsters, will in that ballot box think that their financial security will be enhanced because of the Tory reputation – one that they've never earned in realty – for reducing taxes and giving people more money in their pockets.'
Asked about Mr Miliband's leadership, she said: 'He's done very well but… it is a matter of mood and self-delusion that makes people eventually, regardless of what they feel they should be doing when they speak to the opinion pollsters, taking a different view with that stub of pencil in the privacy of the ballot booth.'
Former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Hain told LBC: 'Voters were telling me that they couldn't choose between Labour and the Conservatives, and that suggests a 1992-style squeeze to me.'
Ukip had been hoping to gain as many as 10 seats, with leader Nigel Farage predicting in November that 'dozens' of constituencies would back him at the election.
But during a grueling election campaign he has been forced to focus on his own battle to win in South Thanet, vowing to quit as leader if he does not take a seat in the Commons.
Heading to a polling station in Oxfordshire today, Mr Cameron said he and wife Samantha were 'voting Conservative this morning, so that everyone can have security whatever stage of life they are at'. He argued that a vote for the Tories would 'can secure a brighter future for Britain'.
Mr Miliband described the election as 'closest election for a generation', claiming a vote for Labour would 'build a Britain that succeeds because working people succeed'.
The FTSE 100 closed down today down 0.7 per cent at 6887, its lowest since early April in a further sign of market unease over the outcome of the election.
In the final days of campaigning, the Tories warned of a 'Fallout Friday' if Labour won, predicting a collapse in global confidence in Britain and a French-style rise in unemployment and borrowing.
Despite the exit poll making bleak reading for Mr Miliband, Labour won the first seat to declare in the 2015 General Election with an increased majority.
Bridget Phillipson held Houghton and Sunderland South, polling 21,218 votes, up 4.7 per cent on her 2010 figure. Ukip's Richard Elvin polled 8,280, pushing Conservatives candidate Stewart Hay into third place with 7,105 votes.
Ms Phillipson said voters 'have put their faith in Labour's belief that Britain only succeeds when working people succeed too. 'The Tories have failed people here and across Britain.'
Officials in Sunderland have been the first in the country to declare since 1992, and ran a slick operation to retain its record. The election result was announced at 10.48pm, four minutes quicker than in 2010.
The first true target for Labour will be Nuneaton, which is expected to call at around 1am. The traditionally Labour-leaning seat needs just a two point
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