David Cameron today returned to Downing Street
as Prime Minister after securing a shock election victory which is set to
deliver an overall majority for the Torries.
In the biggest upset of the night, Chancellor Ed
Balls, who Mr. Cameron described as ‘’the most annoying person in modern
polities’’ lost his seat to the Torries with a vast 422 votes.
A deflated Ed Miliband stated that he was deeply
sorry for Labour difficult and disappointing election night. There are doubts Mr Miliband will survive as
leader until Friday lunchtime, as he faces being left with fewer seats than
Gordon Brown, slumping to 233. There are
opinions from some quarters that he will most likely throw in the towel much
later today.
After weeks of opinion polls suggesting the
result was too close to call, 'shy Tories' came out in force at the last moment
to keep Mr. Cameron in Downing Street.
A 7am results forecast suggests the Tories will
win 329 seats - more than half of the Commons. With Sinn Fein not taking their
seats and the Speaker not voting, it would effectively give the Tories a
majority of around seven.
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.
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.'
Big Congrats Dave!
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