LIVE: Scotland’s general election results

Ballot boxLIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)2326 Second UK result of the night: Washington and Sunderland West. Labour hold.

2319 Conservative candidate for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, David Mundell, says the one thing that is clear is that the Labour Party have lost the election. He added: "I don’t think there’s any doubt the TV debates changed the dynamic. The public focused their decision-making on waiting for the outcome of the next debate."

2317 Brian Taylor says returning officer for Sheffield says "we got it wrong". Large number of students turned up without ballot cards which slowed down the process, he said. Hundreds were prevented from voting.

2313 BBC Scotland’s Julie Peacock says Dunfermline and West Fife could declare at about 0045 BST. This is the seat the Lib Dems won from Labour at a by-election. Lib Dems "confident" of retaining the seat.

2310 Tom Aitchison, the returning officer at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Sports Centre, says new legal requirements over verifying signatures on postal votes could delay the result by between 90 minutes and two hours. He said there was 30% more staff counting this year than 2005, to cope with the change. He predicts the first declaration in Edinburgh to come at about 0300 BST.

2306 Reports from around UK of people not getting to vote because there were big queues as polls closed at 2200 BST. Some polling places have had lock-ins. People who were in by 2200 BST. Allowed to queue and vote. No reports of such problems in Scotland.

BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor2303 BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor says exit poll has been tweaked slightly as more information becomes available. Conservatives 305, Labour 255, Lib Dems 61, Others 29. WARNING: All polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election like this.

2302 Nicola Sturgeon says Sunderland South was "not a target seat for the SNP". She warns against reading too much into one result.

2258 Murdo Fraser of the Tories is pleased with the 8.4% swing from Labour to Conservatives in Houghton and Sunderland South. He says it was not a target seat for Tories. Murdo Fraser says Tories need 6.9% swing across the UK to get an overall majority.

2256 Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray says he thinks turnout has gone up because it is a "contentious" election. He also says he thinks the exit poll results are "strange".

2254 Labour majority of almost 11,000 in Sunderland South but big rise in Conservative vote – up by about 5,000.

2252 First UK result of the night. Houghton and Sunderland South – Labour hold.

2250 No Scottish results expected until 0100 BST. Sunderland could be first UK result fairly soon.

2247 Minor diplomatic incident averted in Aberdeen when a gentleman was refused entry to the count for not having a pass. He was let in when he pointed out that he was an independent observer from the Electoral Commission.

2241 This election is equally notable for the absence of some big hitters who have decided to call it a day at Westminster. These include Labour cabinet stalwart John Reid, former defence secretary Des Browne and SNP leader Alex Salmond, who is giving up Westminster to concentrate on his day job of being Scottish first minister.

2239 A number of political big hitters are fighting to keep their seats in Scotland. The biggest of all is Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is standing in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Douglas Alexander, Labour’s election co-ordinator and international development secretary is standing in Paisley and Renfrewshire South. Chancellor Alistair Darling, in Edinburgh South West, and Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, in East Renfrewshire, are both being targeted by the Tories.

2235 BBC Scotland’s Tim Reid says exit poll suggests the Conservatives will have just one seat in Scotland, the same as 2005. Labour could be up two in Scotland. WARNING: All polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election like this.

2231 Peter Mandelson tells Radio Scotland if exit polls are correct, Brown will stay at No. 10.

2224 Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) said minority government was better than coalition. A minority government is forced to build consensus, she says. Douglas Alexander (Labour) said the minority government in Scotland had been stable but at the cost of its legislative programme. He says he supports strong and sustainable government.

2220 Murdo Fraser of the Conservatives says it is far better to have a majority government. He says the country is not used to a hung parliament. Tavish Scott of the Lib Dems said majority government had done nothing for the UK. The SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon said her minority government in Scotland had been "a success".

2208 There have been lots of boundary changes in England since 2005, indeed there are four more seats. Scotland stays the same as the 2005 general election so we can make direct comparisons between the two elections.

2207 At the 2005 general election, Labour won 41 seats, the Lib Dems won 11, the Scottish National Party won six and the Scottish Conservatives won one. Labour has since lost two seats in by-elections – to the Lib Dems and the SNP.

2201 BBC exit poll for the whole UK predicts: Conservative 307, Labour 255, Lib Dem 59 and Others 29. WARNING: All polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election like this where the three main Westminster parties have been so close in the opinion polls. And there could be different voting patterns around the country. Something we’ll be watching out for.

2200 BST The polls have closed. We hope to get 58 of the 59 Scottish constituencies during the night. One seat – Argyll and Bute, will not be counting until Friday morning.

2155 BBC Scotland’s TV coverage of the election results has begun.

2152 In 2005, turnout in Scotland averaged out at about the 60% mark. The seat where most people voted last time was Dunbartonshire East – 73.1%. The poorest turnout was in Glasgow. In Glasgow Central, 43.9% of eligible voters cast their vote.

2148 People in Scotland have been out voting since the polls opened at 0700 BST. There are 3,869,700 eligible voters in Scotland, according to official figures from December 2009, although that figure will have increased since then.

2138 The Rutherglen and East Kilbride seats may well be the first to declare, possibly at about 0115 BST.

2134 There are 59 seats up for grabs in Scotland.

2129 Derek Bateman and Nick Rougvie will keep Radio Scotland listeners informed.

2120 The polls close at 2200 BST. A special election programme, hosted by Glenn Campbell, with Jackie Bird and Brian Taylor, will be broadcast on BBC One Scotland from 2155 BST.

2115 Welcome to the BBC Scotland news website’s coverage of the 2010 general election results. This page will be updated throughout the night with results and analysis from across Scotland.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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