By Joel Miller

Amid overwhelmed polling stations and with not enough voting slips to go round, the Conservative Party have won the most seats, but fallen short of an overall majority.

Tory ministers, MPs and party officials have labelled the result a “decisive rejection of Gordon Brown” after 13 years of failure.

After being re-elected in his Witney 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 government for our country. This is a great country and I will put the national interest first,” he said.

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

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 to give them more than the Conservatives, but not an outright majority.

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.

Nick Clegg said he would go first to the Tories to see if a Government could be formed.

Alan Johnson, the Labour Home Secretary, said over 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 his re-election in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, 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’ Debates, the Lib Dems have fared 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.

Mr Opik, formerly engaged to one of the Cheeky Girls, said: “I’m really quite disappointed that I lost. It’s a sad time for me.”

By Nicholas Smith

Senior Labour figures started to accept defeat tonight as key seats started falling to the Conservatives.

Despite some successes a mood of resignation crept into the party that has held power for the last 13 years.

Early in the evening, David Blunkett became the first prominent Labour figure to suggest that the current government would not win enough seats to be re-elected.

The ex-minister said: “It’s quite likely that the Conservatives will make it to a majority. My instinct is that regrettably we have lost the election.

“We need to minimise the damage that the Conservatives will to do our economy.”

 This came after the Tories claimed some big victories including in the constituency of Kingswood where they increased their vote by a mammoth 9 per cent.

Labour started the night with expected holds in Sunderland’s three constituencies. Despite the Labour victory the result from Houghton and Sunderland South showed a notional 8.44 per cent swing from Labour to the Conservatives.

Labour Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, sidestepped questions about the move towards the Tories: "The really significant thing about that result is what you have seen. It is the first of a fantastic new team of Labour women MPs.”

Victory in Tooting for Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim Cabinet minister, was outweighed by Tory gains in Putney and Battersea.

As expected, Prime Minister Gordon Brown kept his seat in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, increasing his majority by more than 5,000 votes.

In a weakly worded acceptance speech, the Prime Minister said he still might have some part to play in the governing of this country.

Mr Brown said: "The outcome of this country's vote is not yet known, but my duty to the country, coming out of this election, is to play my part in Britain having a strong, stable and principled government.”

In the case of a hung parliament the incumbent Prime Minister gets the first shot at forming a government.

Peter Mandelson, architect of New Labour and current Business Secretary, said: "The constitutional conventions are very clear. The rules are that if it's a hung parliament, it's not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go - it's the sitting government."

Earlier in the evening, he said: "Of course, many people have turned away from the Labour Party but what they haven't done is to fly into the arms of David Cameron's Tories."

 Pressed on whether Labour would seek to do a deal with the Lib Dems to try to hold on to power, he said: "I have no problem in principle in trying to supply this country with a strong and stable government."

By Lara O'Reilly

Cries of “yes we Khan, yes we Khan” erupted in Wandsworth Civic Suite last night as Sadiq Khan, Labour candidate for Tooting, retained his seat in the constituency.

Khan, the minister of state for transport and first Muslim ever in British history to attend cabinet, beat his rival Tory Candidate, Mark Clarke, to the seat by a majority of 2,524 – but less than half that of the majority in 2005, which stood at 5381.

According to Khan, last night saw Tooting’s highest Labour vote since 1997 and the Conservatives’ lowest since 1992.

Clarke needed a 6.1 per cent swing to unseat Labour – not dissimilar to the 6.9 per cent the Conservatives needed nationally to win the overall majority.

Mr Khan said: “Tooting is the seat the Conservatives would need to win to have a majority Government.

“The three words I am very pleased to say are: ‘Tooting Labour hold’.”

The constituency of Tooting was number 112 on the Tory target list after Labour won its 5381 majority in 2005.

In his winning speech, Khan praised the positive Labour campaign in the constituency compared to Tory “smears” which was met by jeers from Conservative supporters.

In the run-up to the campaign, it was emerged Khan had wrongly used Commons expenses to send out letters to constituents in the run-up to the election.

Mr Khan said: “This is not about party leaders or politicians, it is about Tooting. This election in Tooting was about power to the people.”

Clarke made no losers speech and was unavailable for comment after the result was announced.

Liberal Democrat Nasser Butt polled 7,509 votes.

The Tooting constituency covers Tooting, Earlsfield and part of Balham.

The Wandsworth borough is typically Conservative and traditionally one of the Tories’ strongest local authorities in London - as demonstrated by strong wins in the Battersea and Putney seats last night.

Tooting has a significant ethnic minority community and was typically working class until city house price hikes saw young middle class professionals move in to the area.

Last year, Khan made history by being the first Muslim to attend Cabinet, in his role as transport minister.

Khan is a bus driver’s son who grew up in an Earlsfield council flat.

His mother worked at local St George’s Hospital and he maintains strong links to the West Indies where his family are originally from.

Clarke, 33, is the Chairman of Conservative Future, the youth wing of the Conservative Party.

He featured in society magazine, Tatler, in the now infamous photoshoot of “future cabinet ministers”.

Turnout in the borough was less than expected at 65 per cent.

Local Liberal Democrat MPs may face a tough battle to hang onto their seats after a poll of KU students put them in third place behind Labour and the Tories.

In a narrow poll Labour came top with 27 per cent of the vote and the Tories second with a quarter of the vote, while only 22 per cent said they would vote Liberal Democrat in the general election.

Thousands of students live in the Kingston & Surbiton and Richmond Park consituencies, currently held by Lib Dems Ed Davey and Susan Kramer, and represent a big voting force.

Mr Davey, the Liberal Democrats’ Shadow Foreign Secretary, told The River: “Here we’ve got two Lib Dem MPs but it would be a real setback for the party if Susan and I lost ... I could be out of a job in three months time. I don’t think I will be, but I could be.”

The survey of 275 students across all four campuses and online showed a tight gap of two points between Labour and the Conservatives.

Helen Whately, the Conservative candidate for Kingston, said: “We know the election is going to be close. This constituency is critical. Voters here can't vote one way but hope the rest of the country will do the job of changing the government.”

The Tories have been campaigning hard to paint themselves as the party of ‘change’, and some students said the Conservatives were the best party to replace a stale Labour Government. Ultimately, though, anti-Tory sentiment was just as strong.

Maks Klomnko, First year Civil Engineering said: “The Conservatives don’t see the way forward – the clue’s in the name. They see things in the old way, but we’re in the 21^st century and things need to change.”

Steve Nice, second year fine art, was more explicit in his criticism. He said: “I will vote tactically, because there is no way I want the Tories in power. Their attitude towards society and their individualism is a massive problem.”

Max Freedman, Labour candidate for Kingston, said: “Labour has always been a student-friendly party, and we have appealed to students' idealism ... I hope that Kingston students have the idealism to fight for a better world.”

It was the more pragmatic concern about jobs and the economy, which came out as the most important election issue amongst students, with 31 per cent of the vote.

While male students gave it 41 per cent of their vote, opinion amongst female students was more evenly spread, as health, university and education and the party leaders were all seen as equally important.

There was also little interest in the whole election amongst a significant minority of students, with just under one in six saying they ‘Don’t care’ which party wins.

Kieran Rowe, a motorycle engineering and design student at Roehampton Vale said: “Students have got other things to worry about. You’ve got a lot of work to do and you just want to get on with it, not think about who you’re going to vote for.”

KU students have the opportunity to shape the political landscape and play a decisive role in the election. However, those considering voting for a perspective party or candidate should consider what their vote means with regards to tuition fees.

A Labour review on tuition fees in 2004 meant students were paying as much as £3,225 per year. This rate, over a standard three year course would lead to students leaving higher education with almost £10,000 to pay back; this figure excludes rent and living expenses.

The government said it would review tuition fees last year, but decided against going ahead with it until after the election. However, all signs are that tuition fees will rise.

“There is a real prospect that fees might go up by £5,000, £7,000 or £10,000 per year. Some leaders and some vice- chancellors are already asking the opposition to push fees up,” said Aaron Porter, vice president of the NUS.

The NUS are keen to generate money for higher education funding from the tax payer rather than increasing the considerable debt taken on by undergraduates. The average graduate debt is now in excess of £22,000. Mr Porter said: “Part-time, post-grads and international students are charged a great deal more, as they have un-capped fees.”

 Both main parties have given their backing to prospect fee hikes. Labour has indicated that it wants to give permission to universities to set their own fees. 

The Conservatives have suggested a fee structure similar to the US system, which is much higher than in the UK.

The Lib Dems would prefer to cut tuition fees. Ed Davey, MP for Kingston-Surbiton said: “We want to slash top up fees. This time we know we can’t afford to do it so we will now do it over six years, we would gradually get it to all students.”

Mr Davey added: “I think with tuition fees we have got a whole range of problems, the most concerning one is that when students do graduate they have a huge millstone of debt round their neck.”

Max Freedman, Labour candidate for Kingston-Surbiton said: “There should not be any increase in tuition fees. Universities have to be paid for whether that is by tuition fees or some sort of graduate tax. We need a system that does not scare people off going to university; grants are a good thing.”

The Green Party have made similar overtures about their plans to do away with fees by raising tax. They hope to generate revenue for their projects by abolishing identity cards and scrapping the planned up-grade of the UK's nuclear arsenal.

 The party would advocate funding higher education by offering grants to students, instead of raising fees. This would ensure students left university with lower debt levels.

  “Our policy is to scrap any fees for higher education, the only way to do this is to raise taxes,” said Chris Walker, Green Party candidate for Kingston-Surbiton.

 However, Conservative candidate for Kingston-Richmond Helen Whately believes there is no realistic alternative to a tuition fee hike.

 “None of the three parties would be able support lowering tuition fees. The Lib Dems do not have a policy here, their whips will vote in accordance with the party line. The choice between Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem is clear, it’s not about who’s going to cut fees, it’s about who’s going to give you more for your money,” she said.

With the election only a few months away, all prospective candidates are limbering up for a final sprint to the door of No. 10.  The stakes are high, given the increasingly narrow poll gap between Labour and the Conservatives, meaning the slightest PR slip-up could prove disastrous.  Here’s some common sense advice both parties should listen to, in order to maximise their chances of Election-day success. 

Beware of popular culture.

There’s nothing more toe-curling than politicians doing pop music.  Cherie Blair caterwauling ‘When I’m 64’ and Gordon Brown admitting a fondness for the Arctic Monkeys saw ridicule heaped on both, whilst David Cameron’s smug claim that Radiohead had granted a song request saw him receive a sharp rebuke from lead singer Thom Yorke, who denied the politician’s claims.  Stick to Radio 2 folks!

Keep your vocal chords in check.

A calm, earnest-sounding voice is crucially important for any wannabe MP.  Those in possession of less honeyed tones could do worse than to follow the example set by Margaret Thatcher in employing a vocal coach to lower her paint-strippingly shrill voice into something more bearable.  Here’s looking at you, Gideon George Oliver Osborne. 

Flaunt your family with caution.

Whilst being a “family man” [or woman] is strong political currency, most Westminster bigwigs have wisely chosen to keep their loved ones out of the spotlight.  John Gummer shoveling a hamburger into his four year-old daughter’s mouth at the height of the BSE scare in 1989 provoked howls of outrage.  Guard their privacy to avoid allegations of exploitation. 

Be honest about your educational background.

Many politicans choose – unwisely – to play down their educational background.  David Cameron’s haughty dismissal of his top-notch schooling as “corny” seems odd, particularly in light of the phone call from Buckingham Palace to Tory HQ on the morning of his first interview, when an unnamed regal voice gave Dave a glowing reference.  Far better to work hard and wait for your reward come the next reshuffle. 

Appoint ministers solely on the basis of previous experience. 

Summer 2009 saw a vanity appointment backfire spectacularly, as MP Caroline Flint left office amid a flurry of unhinged-sounding statements.  Vampy Flint accused Gordon Brown of treating her as glamorous window dressing.  Which seems fair, given her admission that as Minister for Europe she hadn’t bothered to read the Lisbon Treaty, setting out the function and rules of EU. 

Guard your briefing papers carefully.

Top anti-terror cop Bob Quick was sacked last year after emerging from Downing Street carrying secret papers which forced MI5 to bring forward a terror operation.  Andy Burnham clung onto his job after leaving papers marked “restricted” on a train, whilst Caroline Flint [her again] faced flak after walking into No 10 in 2007 carrying papers admitting “We don’t know how bad the housing crisis will get.”  Just use your bloody briefcase!

 Don’t get preachy.

Few tears were shed over the downfall of Evangelical Northern Irish MP Iris Robinson last month.  Having used the Bible to condemn gays as “worse than paedophiles” money-grabbing Iris was revealed as a rampant cougar who’d been bedding the 19 year-old son of a dead lover.  Iris’ Shady financial dealings also ended her husband Peter’s career as Northern Ireland First Minister, proving that the family who pray together don’t necessarily stay together. 

Don’t try to be faux-frugal.

“Isn’t she lovely?  And so in keeping with the mood of the nation!”  Trilled Tory sympathisers last summer, as Samantha Cameron hit the party conference in a pair of £29 Zara stilettos and a £65 polka-dot M&S dress.  What a contrast to champagne socialist Sarah Brown, in her £800 Erdem frock.  Until it emerged that luxury goods CEO Sam had commissioned a bespoke copy of the dress from its original designer.  From woman of the people to Marie Antoinette in one fell swoop.  Oops. 

Pay your taxes.

Tax represents a political hot potato, but that didn’t stop Tory eco-bore Zac Goldsmith trying to avoid it.  Goldsmith shuffled uncomfortably when his non-dom tax status was revealed late last year, quickly conceding that he’d done the wrong thing.  Sadly, his admission came too late to salvage his status as a Tory maverick.  If you’re going to be part of the team that sets income tax rates, make sure you’re paying your own.

Avoid green issues.

In rushing to leap on the green bandwagon, many MPs leave themselves open to accusations of hypocrisy.   David Cameron’s smug championing of eco-friendly Big trainers was toe-curling.  As was his insistence on being photographed cycling to work, followed [at a discreet distance] by a car carrying his briefcase.  Most voters are happy to subsidise the odd ministerial Jag, knowing that to do so props up the almost non-existent British car industry.