UK set for hung Parliament with Tories largest party

David Cameron: "The Labour government has lost its mandate to govern our country"

With more than 500 general election results in out of 650, the BBC is predicting a hung Parliament with the Tories as the largest party.

Labour cannot now win a majority, but it is not clear which party will be in a position to form a government.

Tory leader David Cameron said it was "clear that the Labour government has lost its mandate to govern".

But Gordon Brown is set to start coalition talks with the Lib Dems, Downing Street sources have indicated.

The BBC projection suggests David Cameron's Conservatives will have 306 seats. If there are 10 Unionists elected in Northern Ireland then Mr Cameron might be able to command 316 - probably still slightly too few for him to be sure of winning a Queen's Speech.

But Labour and the Lib Dems together would have 317 seats, according to the BBC figures, which even with three SDLP MPs would still leave them at 320 - again probably just a few votes short.

Expenses

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague says any attempt by Brown at securing a pact with Lib Dems "would be a shameless piece of politics".

But senior Labour figures have said that under the rules of Britain's constitution, the sitting prime minister in a hung parliament makes the first attempt at forming a ruling coalition.

In other election night news:

• Northern Ireland's first minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson has been defeated in East Belfast by the Alliance party
• The Greens have gained their first MP at Westminster - party leader Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavillion
• Education secretary Ed Balls hung on in Morley and Outwood by just over 100 votes but former Home Secretary Charles Clarke narrowly lost to the Lib Dem candidate in Norwich South
• Jacqui Smith, who stood down as home secretary over her expenses, lost her Redditch seat to the Conservative but Hazel Blears retained her seat in Salford
• Labour's Margaret Hodge beat the BNP's Nick Griffin in Barking and Dagenham, with a 5% increase in her vote
• Esther Rantzen came fourth in Luton South, which went to the Labour candidate
• Lib Dem frontbencher Lembit Opik has lost his Montgomeryshire seat after suffering a 13.2% swing to the Conservatives
• There were angry scenes and calls for an inquiry after people were turned away from polling stations as long queues formed ahead of the 2200 BST voting deadline.

With most results in, the Lib Dem vote is up 0.9% on 2005, Labour down 6.5% and the Conservatives up 4%.

Turnout is running at 65.2%, a modest increase on the 2005 general election.

'New leadership'

ELECTION 2010: AT-A-GLANCE Brown 'proud of Labour's record' Labour loses mandate - Cameron Independent Richard Taylor loses seat Lembit Opik loses seat UKIP's Farage 'to miss count'

After winning his Witney seat with an increased majority, Mr Cameron said it was clear from the results announced that the country wanted "change" and that would require "new leadership".

Promising to put the "national interest first", Mr Cameron said he would aim to bring about "strong, stable, decisive and good government".

Despite being on course to lose 90 Labour MPs, and with the party's lowest share of the vote since 1983, Gordon Brown vowed to play his part in Britain "having a strong, stable and principled government".

After winning his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat, Mr Brown said he wanted that government to be able to lead Britain into "sustained recovery".

Foreign Secretary David Miliband it was "reasonable and right" that parties attempted to work together to form a government in the event of a hung parliament.

He told BBC News: "As far as I can see, the exit poll projection suggesting that no party would win this election is being borne out.

"If indeed no party has won an absolute majority then it seems to me perfectly reasonable and right that parties should talk to each other to see if they can find common ground to establish a strong and stable government. There's no harm in that.

"It's a good thing to do when the voters have clearly not embraced any of us and given us the absolute majority that we are all seeking."

Protests

Mr Brown's spokesman said it was "too early to say" what he would do, but sources have indicated he is ready to embark on talks aimed at piecing together a coalition.

Gordon Brown speaks after holding his seat in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

The other big story of the night has been disturbances at polling stations in some parts of the country after higher than expected turnout led to lengthy queues.

Even before Houghton and Sunderland South became the first seat to declare there were widespread reports of people being unable to vote.

There could be legal challenges from candidates who have fallen a few votes short of victory and the Electoral Commission have launched an investigation.

In Sheffield police were called to move people on when voters staged sit-in protests after waiting hours to vote. The city's returning officer apologised but said he had to close the polls at 2200 BST.

Exit poll

A joint BBC exit poll for the BBC/ITV/Sky suggested the Conservatives would be 21 seats short of an overall majority.

ELECTION FACTS More than 44 million people are registered to vote in 649 constituencies. Elections are also taking place for 164 English councils. Polling in one constituency - Thirsk and Malton - has been delayed until 27 May because of the death of one of the candidates during the campaign Voters will choose representatives in 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan authorities and 20 unitary authorities Voters are also choosing mayors in Hackney, Newham, Lewisham and Watford Most counts are taking place overnight, with 20 not due to begin until after 0900 BST on Friday.

The Conservatives would have 305 MPs, up 95 on 2005, Labour would have 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems 61, down 1. Nationalists and others would have 29, the survey suggests.

NOP and Mori surveyed 17,607 voters at 130 polling stations across the UK for the BBC/ ITV/Sky exit poll.

All exit polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election such as this one, in which the three main Westminster parties have been so close in the opinion polls. There could also be different voting patterns around the country.

The poll anticipates the Lib Dems will perform better in England than in either Scotland or Wales, but would still lose one MP on their 2005 tally.

Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne retained his marginal seat with an increased majority, but Evan Harris lost to the Conservative candidate by 200 votes in Oxford West and Abingdon.

One of the biggest swings of the election saw the party win a seat from Labour in an area hit by huge job losses in recent months.

Vera Baird, who was solicitor general under Gordon Brown, lost her Redcar seat after polling 13,741 votes compared to 18,955 for Lib Dem Ian Swales.