UK exit polls show Conservatives well ahead
Although exit polls should be treated with "HUGE caution", those taken at 2010 UK general election proved largely accurate.
As votes are tallied in the UK, exit polls point to another five years of a coalition government led by David Cameron’s Conservative Party.
The numbers show the Conservatives well ahead of Labour, sitting comfortably on 316 seats and Labour trailing on 239.
If the exit polls are accurate, the Liberal Democrats will get 10 MPs, Plaid Cymru four and UKIP and the Greens just two each.
The polling suggests the Scottish National Party (SNP) will win 58 of the 59 seats in Scotland.
The poll numbers are a big blow to the Liberal Democrats, which won 57 seats last election.
For the Conservative Party to win an outright majority, it needs 326 seats.
Although Mr Cameron is within a whisker of winning outright, a hung Parliament is the predicted outcome.
The Conservatives will need to form a coalition and are expected to seek the support of the Liberal Democrats or the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Meanwhile, the chances of Edward Miliband and the Labour party forming a coalition government – tipped as a strong possibility just hours ago – now appear increasingly slim.
Even if Mr Miliband were able to persuade the Liberal Democrats to join the SNP and back Labour, on current exit polling the left-wing coalition would still be short of the 326 seat needed to form a government.
Party leaders have been active on social media as the results are tallied.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said on Twitter that, although she is optimistic, the prospect of her party winning 58 seats is unlikely and warned that exit polls should be treated with “HUGE caution.”
That's a view shared by many politicians and commentators, although the exit polls from the 2010 UK general election proved to be largely accurate.
This story will be updated as the results come in.
Jason Walls
Fri, 08 May 2015
Fri, 08 May 2015
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UK exit polls show Conservatives well ahead
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