Liberal Democrat Edward Davey has successfully defended his Kingston and Surbiton seat with a majority of 7,560, a reduction of just 1,406.

Mr Davey’s victory comes on a night when the Lib Dems under-performed after a strong showing in the pre-election polls. Fellow local Lib Dem Susan Kramer lost her Richmond Park constituency to the Conservatives.

Speaking after the count Mr Davey said: “It’s a slightly better result than expected, given what’s happened all over, and the context.”

Mr Davey has been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997 when he won the seat with a majority of only 57.

In 2001 he increased his majority in to 15,676 but this fell to just under 9,000 in 2005.

Unlike many of MPs in this election Mr Davey was unaffected by the expenses scandal after he was labeled one of the ‘saints’ by the Daily Telegraph.

The main competition to Mr Davey came from Helen Whately of the Conservatives. Ms Whately’s leading campaign issues were ‘local schools for local children’, ‘tackling crime and anti-social behaviour’ and ‘supporting local shops and businesses’.

There were around 4,000 more votes for the Tories compared with 2005, roughly a 3.5 per cent increase.

Ms Whately said: “It has been a good night for us. We fought a strong campaign and I'm happy with the result.”

A key battleground of the campaign has been Kingston Hospital. There were rumours that a review by NHS London would recommend closing the Accident and Emergency unit and the maternity ward.

The publication of the report has been delayed until after the election yet the rumours have made the hospital a focus for local candidates and a symbol of the NHS nationwide.

During the campaign Mr Davey has been joined at the hospital by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, whose son was born there in 2009.

Mr Clegg’s wife, Miriam González Durántez, has also visited Kingston Hospital recently, although her visit had more to do with her broken elbow than political campaigning.

Mr Clegg isn’t the only leader to have visited Kingston Hospital in recent months.

When Conservative leader David Cameron visited the maternity ward in April he said: “We are going to get rid of that review and keep investing in this hospital.”

This was seen by the Lib Dems as a U-turn after the Conservatives had initially accused the Lib Dems of scaremongering over the future of the hospital.

Zac Goldsmith, Conservative candidate for Richmond Park, had previously said: "I've seen all the people in a position of knowledge and all of them without exception have said this campaign is deeply irresponsible.”

Mr Davey said: “The other parties came round to our point of view. Having Cameron here is a campaign success.”

Mr Davey also campaigned on issues such as the number of primary school places, more NHS dentists and lowering the speed limit on the A3 to 50 mph.

The results in full:

Edward Davey (Lib Dem): 28,428 (49.78 per cent)

Helen Whately (Conservative): 20,868 (36.54 per cent)

Max Freedman (Labour): 5,337 (9.3 per cent)

Jonathan Greensted (UK Independence Party): 1,450 (2.5 per cent)

Chris Walker (Green): 555 (1 per cent)

Monkey the Drummer (Monster Raving Loony Party): 247

Anthony May (Christian People’s Alliance): 226

Turnout: 70.67 per cent.

THE Liberal Democrat party has failed to turn their surge in the polls at the start of the campaign into seats at Westminster.

Leader Nick Clegg’s sparkling performance in the first televised debate propelled the party into the consciousness of many voters, and for a while it looked as if they were on course to surpass the Labour party in the popular vote.

However the first indications that the Lib Dems were in for a disappointing evening came with the BBC, Sky and ITV joint exit poll which suggested they would actually lose seats three seats compared to 2005.

Vince Cable, economics spokesman, reacted quickly to dispel suggestions that the exit polls would be indicative of a poor Lib Dem showing.

He said: “These polls have been horribly wrong in the past. The change this time is that they do not include postal votes, which were posted when we were at our peak.”

But early signs showed the exit poll to have been accurate, with the earliest constituencies to declare not showing any increase in the Lib Dem share of the vote.

The highest profile casualty was Lembit Opik, frontbench Lib Dem and MP for Montgomeryshire since 1997. He lost out to Conservative candidate Glyn Davies who gained a 13.2 per cent swing. Opik later tweeted: “It's a very sad day for democracy if being characterful means you can't be in Parliament.”

The Lib Dem’s top target, Guildford, which they had missed out on in 2005 by 77 votes, went to the Conservatives who won with a 7,782 seat majority.

Evan Harris, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997, lost his seat to the Conservatives, with a 6.9 per cent swing.

However Chris Huhne, Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, held Eastleigh with an increased majority, and the Lib Dems won Eastbourne from the Conservative party.

Despite disappointment over the Lib Dem’s overall gains, their role as a potential kingmaker in a hung parliament meant much of the speculation through the night was about whether Nick Clegg would form a coalition with the Labour party.

David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives, spoke out against that possibility following his re-election in Witney: “It’s already clear that the Labour government has lost its mandate to govern this country. The country wants change and that change is going to require new leadership.”

The Lib Dem’s disappointing performance may be related to the treatment they received in Conservative-supporting newspapers in the latter part of the campaign. The Daily Mail was particularly ferocious in its criticism of Nick Clegg, warning readers of the dangers of a hung parliament, and suggesting the United Kingdom was in danger of suffering similar problems to Greece.

By Tom Watson and Amy Coen

David Cameron may have started the night slowly, but by the early hours of Friday morning the Conservatives were anything but blue.

The Conservatives started the night optimistically when the exit poll showed them winning an impressive 307 seats, a 97 seat gain on the 2005 elections, but still short of a full majority.

This, nonetheless, inspired an outpouring of positive expectancy from Cameron and an impromptu phone call from the Republican Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gov. Schwarzenegger congratulated Cameron on his win ahead of any confirmation of constituency seat victory. The Republican showered the party leader with positive comments.

Mr. Schwarzenegger tweeted a message minutes after the conversation that read: “Just called @David Cameron to congratulate him on the victory,” 

‘‘Even though results aren’t in we know the Conservatives had a great day.”

Cameron released a statement through his spokesperson shortly after, claiming the exit poll was a “decisive rejection of Gordon Brown” and that the Conservatives could easily govern with the predicted result.

George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “Britain needs a stable and responsible government and looking at the exit poll it is pretty clear Labour cannot continue in government. Labour has been rejected by the British people.”

Despite the high expectations from across the pond, the first constituency results from Houghton and Sunderland South favoured Labour, with only a 5.2 per cent Conservative swing to hint at an ultimate Cameron win.

MP Chris Skidrow made the first upset at Kingswood, a suburban area near Bristol, after stealing a majority vote with a 9.4 per cent swing from Labour. A difference of that size across the country would have approved Cameron as the next Prime Minister with ease.

Mr Cameron continued his conquest throughout the night in constituencies such as Putney, swinging it from Labour by a substantial 9.9 per cent of the vote.

Battersea became a shock steal from Labour with a 6.5 per cent swing, followed triumphantly by an unexpected steal from the loyal Liberal Democrat constituency Montgomeryshire, usurping former Cheeky Girl fiancé Lembit Opik.

The results from Carlisle showed that Conservative hopes of holding the recommended 326 seats to run parliament was a realistic final outcome, stealing the constituency from Labour with an unexpected 7.7 per cent swing. 

George Osborne reiterated the general feel of the party following the encouraging results from across the country: “I do not think there’s any question of Labour being unable to continue following this massive rejection of the Labour Party.”

Cameron stormed to an expected victory in his home constituency of Witney, receiving 58.81 per cent of the vote and swinging an impressive 6.29 per cent from the Liberal Democrats.

By Gregory Newcombe

Nick Griffin admitted defeat in Barking last night conceding that Labour veteran Margaret Hodge “won the seat rather comfortably”.

The defeat came only hours after Griffin declared that the 2010 General Election was a “watershed” moment for the British National Party.  

After the defeat, the BNP candidate for Mitcham and Morden, Tony Martin, fuelled the controversy by suggesting that Labour and the Liberal Democrats conspired to keep the BNP out.

“Labour and the Lib Dems have colluded in Barking to prevent Nick Griffin getting in. The Lib Dems halted their campaign so Labour could gain enough votes to win the seat,” said Mr Martin.  

This was the latest in a long line of incidents in Barking which is fast becoming the BNP’s electoral battleground. Only days earlier, the BNP’s campaign chief, Bob Bailey becoming embroiled in an assault probe after confronting some young Asian men.

After a heated exchange of words, the BBC video shows Bailey launching into a frenzied attack on one youth punching him and then aiming kicks at him as he lay on the pavement.

Police said that no-one needed hospital treatment after the incident but a Met spokesman confirmed that an 18-year-old man attended Barking Police Station yesterday and “alleged common assault against another man.”

The defeat came only hours after Griffin declared that 2010 General Election was a “watershed” moment for the British National Party.

Speaking before the polls had even closed Griffin said that the party’s “growth and resilience” was “truly inspiring”.

In an email to supporters he wrote: "This election, regardless of the results, is the watershed for this party.

"This is the last election the British National Party fights as a large small party - we are now a small large party and what's more, our enemies know this.”

"The BNP has arrived and will be knocking on the doors of power sooner than some ever imagined!" he added." 

By Joel Miller

Amid the chaos of over-run polling stations without enough voting slips to go round, the Conservative Party have come out on top in yesterday’s General Election, winning the most seats but falling short of an overall majority.

All Tory ministers, MPs and party officials have echoed the call that the result shows a “decisive rejection of Gordon Brown” after 13 years of failure.

After being re-elected in his Whitney constituency, David Cameron said: “The Labour Government has lost its mandate to run the country and the Conservative Party is set to win more seats at this election than we have in 80 years.”

“What is clear from these results is that the country wants change. That change needs a new governemnt and we will bring strong, stable, decisive and good governemnt for our country. This is a great country and I will put the national interest first,” he said.

George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, said: “I believe it is pretty clear that Labour cannot carry on in Government. They have been rejected by the people.”

Echoing what Gordon Brown said to Nick Clegg in the third TV debate, Mr Osborne said: “I think Labour politicians need to get real.”

A key target seat for the Conservative party, Basildon South, was won on a 7.5 per cent swing from Labour, however another key seat, Bolton North East, was retained by Labour, prompting some Tory election officials to question their hold over the election.

Starting the day with over 350 seats, the election has been Labour’s to lose and they have lost in spectacular style.

Despite holding on to the first seat to be declared, Sunderland South, the party has lost close to 100 seats, demoting them to the second largest party in the House of Commons.

However, the party managed to hold on to the crucial seat of Durham, a seat they have occupied since 1935.

David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, surprised everyone when he admitted: “My instinct is that regrettably we have lost the election. We should now go for uniting the anti-Conservative forces.”

The Labour party still have enough seats to do a deal with the Liberal Democrats and have a slight majority over the Conservatives.

Despite the convention that Gordon Brown can have ‘first dibs’ on a coalition, there is nothing to stop the Conservatives from declaring themselves the winner and trying to lead a minority government.

Alan Johnson, the Labour Home Secretary, said about a possible coalition with the Lib Dems: “I have no problem [with it] at all. If the will of the people is that no party has an overall majority, that’s where grown-up, mature politicians have to be.”

Shortly after hearing his re-election, Gordon Brown flew back to London to enter into talks immediately with the Liberal Democrats over the possibility of a Lib-Lab pact.

Despite a surge in the opinion polls following the leaders’ television debates, the Lib Dems have faired much worse than predicted.

Lembit Opik, the Liberal Democrat MP, lost his seat in Montgomeryshire on a spectacular 13 per cent swing from the Lib Dem’s to the Conservatives.

He said: “I'm really quite disappointed that I lost. It’s a sad time for me.”

Nick Clegg’s seat in Sheffield Hallam saw police called to the polling station after a group of students who were turned away from voting tried to prevent ballot boxes from being taken away to count.

One voter in the constituency said: “It was choc-a-block in there. I haven’t got to cast my vote and I’m so frustrated.”

Northern Ireland First Minister, Peter Robinson, also lost his seat for the Democratic Unionist Party, a seat he has held since 1979.

The DUP lost to the Alliance Party after Mr Robinson becoming embroiled in a controversial land deal. His wife, also an MP, was forced to stand down earlier in year after she admitted to having an affair with a teenager.

The day was characterized by ineptitude as polling stations across the country either ran out of ballot slips, or closed their doors whilst people were still queueing to vote whilst others stayed open past 10pm.

Keeping a polling station open after the alloted time is illegal.

The early hours of the election were mired with uncertainty over the reliability of the joint BBC, ITV and Sky News exit poll.

The poll showed the Lib Dem’s losing three seats, Labour losing 94 and the Conservative’s gaining nearly 100 seats.

However, doubts were raised over the exact figure for Lib Dem’s, due to their apparent poll surge following the leaders’ debates.

Just 550 of KU's 22,782  students voted in this year’s sabbatical officer elections, according to figures released by KUSU this week after ditching traditional polling stations for an online system. 

The turnout, described by the union as “exceedingly disappointing”, shows that only 2.4 per cent of the population of the university decided which of their number would benefit from a wage well above the starting salary for many graduates. 

Mark Horne, KUSU general manager, said: “We have looked at the outcomes of the election in terms of the significant fall in overall turnout and a number of recommendations have been made.” 

An NUS spokesperson said they believed sabbatical officers' salaries to be around £20,000.  Although this varies nationally, this is a figure well above the starting salary for many graduates.

The elections in mid-March saw the return for a second term of President TJ Esubiyi who won by a margin of 105 votes.  443 votes were cast in the VP Activities election taking Rhiannon Hiscocks to a second term with a margin of 101.  Chris Dingle won the VP Education position after two rounds of redistributed votes and new VP Communications Stefan Mattison after one redistribution round. 

Lucy Hayward, a third year Drama student and secretary of the Wine Society, said: “[The change from polling stations to online voting] confused a lot of people.
“There are a lot of people who did not vote because they thought it was too complex.” 

KUSU has defended its decision to move to online voting despite being aware of the big drop in turnout the switch often produces.  The student’s representative body claimed that the online system would encourage more KU students to have their say in who put their views across, especially those away on work placement and at campuses other than Penrhyn Road. 

Mr Horne added: “In a world where students increasingly do not need to be on campus to be at university, this seemed a much fairer system.”

Got a comment?  Email us at: RiverOnlineEditor@googlemail.com.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston has claimed that only her party have the interests of students at heart.

Susan Kramer, who has a majority of only 3,731, is facing stiff competition from the Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith and has urged students to help her retain her seat.

According to Ms Kramer the Liberal Democrats are the party that most closely represents students’ opinions.

She said: “We are a progressive party and when I talk to students I find that there is a very common set of views.”

Ms Kramer believes these views range from an history of opposition to the Iraq war, concern for the environment and scrapping student tuition fees.

“The whole focus of our party is when we’re making choices on where we spend money it has very much been on people who are at the beginning of their life. It’s a longer term view and it crystallises in our position on student tuition fees.”

Until recently, the Liberal Democrats have supported abolishing student tuition fees. They now wish to phase out fees over a six year period.

“I think we’ve got to get rid of student tuition fees. Given the deficit we’re trying to cope with we just can’t do things as quickly we could have otherwise.”

Ms Kramer believes that anyone not wishing to have a Conservative MP should vote Liberal Democrat.

She said: “If you're not likely to be the winning party in an area, the way you then get the most use out of your vote is to consider who you don’t want to be the winning party in the area.”

“I don’t like the system, but that’s the system that I have to work with and it’s the reality that students should be aware of.”

Ms Kramer has been criticised by Mr Goldsmith for attempting to smear him using a 'Liberal Democrat Attack Unit', a claim she denies.

Ms Kramer said: "We don't have a Liberal Democrat Attack Unit. I have a strong suspicion he's looking at Conservative structure and assuming we have the same resources and same set up that they have."

After hearing KU's Vice-Chancellor, Sir Peter Scott's, call for students to vote Labour Ms Kramer compared this to someone in church telling people how to vote.

She said: “I’ve never thought that’s particularly appropriate.”

However, she agreed with him that students should get out and vote.

“I would rather they vote and voted for another party than not vote.”

To find out more about the policies of Susan Kramer and the Liberal Democrats visit www.libdems.org.uk or www.susankramer.org.uk.

Could you envisage a world without chavs? Britain minus the Isle of Wright, and celebrities only earning the same amount as regular people? These are just some of the measure KU students said they would implement if they were Prime Minister for a day.

As political parties battle it out to see who takes the top spot and the most important job in Britain, we asked Kingston students what they would do if they were in power.

Does low cost university education sound good to you? Many students thought so, second year student Katie Holmes said:  “I would make uni free. I think that as it is so expensive it puts people off, but if fees were dropped or reduced more people would be able to have further education leading to better jobs in the long run.”

The average student debt in 2009 tops £23,500 according to Push, an online student magazine, with some students in London being saddled with £30,000 of debt to complete their degree.  Pharmacology student, Janine Benham agrees with Katie and said that if she were PM for the day: “I would get rid of student loans 100% its just too impossible pay them back.”

Janine also said that if she was in Gordon Brown’s shoes she would also tackle the finance industry. “I would stop all banks from giving huge bonus’s to the fat cats, it is just not fair.” The banks bonus culture has been in an out of the headlines in recent weeks with John Varley of Barclays, Stephen Hester of RBS and Eric Daniels of Lloyds Banking Group waiving their right to bonus’s for 2009. Yet Film student Timothy Smith fees this measures do not go far enough and said: “If I was PM I would make banking completely translucent, they need stricter measures and much more accountability.”

Cynthia Franklin would care for Britain’s service people and said: “I would introduce a new law giving an extra weeks paid holiday to those who work in the fire brigade, hospitals and police service, those guys work really hard an deserve a break.”

Other KU students discussed implementing more controversial measures if they were to undertake the head role. Politics and International relations student, Omar Malik said: “I would legalise marijuana, it’s a plant that grows in the ground and not being allowed to grow it is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.”

Geography student Mike Frewin said:  “I would exile all chavs to the Isle of Wright and nuke it, I would then walk home from 10 Downing Street safe in the knowledge that I would not be robbed for loose change.” He may however face some opposition from the current residents.

Only one student questioned said they would use the role to their advantage. Third year Safeera Sarjoo said: “I would just enjoy the benefits of the job,” adding:  “I might impose a law where celebs earn the same as regular working people, if I had the time.”

Almost two-thirds of students living in Kingston say they would be more likely to vote in the upcoming General Election, if there was a polling station on the University campuses.

The survey carried out by RiverOnline, found many students were undecided on whether they would be voting in the election but said a polling station accessible from campus would encourage them to vote.

Andrew Bessant, the Returning Officer for the Royal Borough of Kingston, whose role it is to oversee the voting procedure and count, said: “The idea of having a polling station on the University campus is an interesting one and would undoubtedly increase the student turnout. It would not be possible to have a facility just for University students because of the requirement for them to be registered in the locality.

“However, a polling station at, or near a significant area of student accommodation could be considered in the future” he added.

Maddy Whitty, a first year graphic design student said: “If I walked past a polling station on campus I would definitely be more inclined to vote.  It sounds lazy but it needs to be more convenient for people like me and there isn’t enough out there for students. It’s not really aimed at our age group”.

Students at the Penrhyn Road campus have a 4 minute walk to their nearest polling station, those at Knights Park have a 6 minute walk, Roehampton Vale students face a 10 minute walk and Kingston Hill students face a 14 minute trek.

Electoral Services Manager Gareth Harrington said: “It is important that students eligible to vote in Kingston, do just that. The more people that vote, the better.”

 “The Council has always been very keen to engage young people in the democratic process. In the past we have put on various events to try and achieve that though, in most cases, without much success. It remains a major priority in the long-term.”

Libby Wimble, another first year graphic design student, said: “I plan to vote but I don’t really know how to register. I got a letter about it through my door but there wasn’t much explanation.”

 Local residents and Kingston based students can register to vote up to 11 days prior to the election, likely to be called for Thursday 6 May.

"Drum roll pur-leeeease!"

In the top spot is Gideon’s Daughter (2005), written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and features Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson and Emily Blunt. 

Nighy plays a PR guru, Gideon Warner, in a BBC drama following the British public’s spirit following Labour’s election win in 1997 and the death of Princess Diana.  Gideon meets Stella (Richardson) on a journey of self discovered fuelled by his daughter Natasha’s (Blunt) threat to leave. 

Poliakoff is a master of visual imagery and expressing human relationships and this film does not disappoint.  If you fall in love with this, which you will, his Perfect Strangers (2001) should be next on your ‘to watch’ list.

Election (1999), directed by Alexander Payne, comes in at a close second.  This drama includes Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein in its cast. 

Baby-faced Klein (American Pie) stars as a high school jock cajoled into standing against Tracy Flick (Witherspoon), star pupil at Carver High, by Social Studies teacher Jim McAllister (Broderick) in an election for student president. 

Jim and Tracy’s character flaws are played out in an uncomfortable and, at times, certificate 18 comedy.

Third on the list is director Alan J. Pakula's All The President’s Men (1976) starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. 

Carl Bernstein (Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Redford) are two journalists digging for Watergate scandal scoops that set this narrative about conspiracy and hypocrisy in motion. 

Night time meetings with unnamed informants keep the suspense alive in a film that otherwise studies the story-writing process.

Dustin Hoffman swaggers his way again into this top five bringing with him Mr Robert De Niro to feature in Barry Levinson's Wag The Dog (1997). 

Conrad Bean (De Niro), a spin doctor, and Stanley Motts (Hoffman), a Hollywood producer, work to cover up a sex scandal involving the President of the United States of America just weeks before an election. 

A fictional war is the men’s tool of choice and the film highlights the public’s belief in television as reality.

Finally, we reach All The King’s Men (2006) directed by Steven Zaillian.  The all-star cast for the most recent film on the rundown includes Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet. 

When Jack Burden (Law) is asked to interview Willie Stark (Penn) he does not expect to become Stark’s right hand man.  Stark’s rise to Governor of Louisiana throws him into the lives of aristocrats Judge Irwin (Hopkins) and Anne Stanton (Winslet) as he gains support from the lower classes he tries to represent. 

Betrayal and conspiracy are the main themes in a film that improves once you get over Law’s American accent in the opening sequence.

Tell us what you think of the films by leaving a comment below!