Author: xaurav

Nick Clegg has acknowledged the Liberal Democrats have had a "disappointing night", despite his pre-election poll surge in the wake of the TV debates.

Mr Clegg, who said during the campaign it had turned into a "two-horse race" between his party and the Tories, may end up with fewer seats than 2005.

As he was returned as MP for Sheffield Hallam, Mr Clegg said: "We simply haven’t achieved what we had hoped."

He urged no rushed decisions if, as expected, there is a hung parliament.

Mr Clegg, who retained his seat with an increased majority, but high profile Lib Dem MPs Lembit Opik and Evan Harris lost their seats.

‘Positive campaign’

With most results in, the Lib Dem vote is up 0.9% on 2005, Labour down 6.5% and the Conservatives up 4%.

Mr Clegg said: "This has obviously been a disappointing night for the Liberal Democrats. We simply haven’t achieved what we had hoped. I’m nonetheless proud of the way we conducted the campaign.

"I think we conducted a positive campaign, full of hope, full of optimism, which I think did engage a lot of people in the election campaign, even if they didn’t then go on to vote for the Liberal Democrats."

The Conservatives look set to be the biggest party but short of an overall majority – and Britain’s first hung parliament in Britain for more than three decades is predicted.

Downing Street sources have indicated Gordon Brown will seek to open coalition talks with the Lib Dems. But Mr Clegg said everyone should "take a little time so that people get the good government that they deserve in these very difficult and uncertain times".

"Clearly the final election result is still a little unpredictable, people have voted but no one appears to have won emphatically," said Mr Clegg.

"I don’t think anyone should rush into making claims or taking decisions which don’t stand the test of time. I think it would be best if everybody were just to take a little time, so that people get the good government that they deserve in these very difficult and uncertain times."

But he said his party would be "guided by the values and the principles on which we fought this election" – fairness, responsibility in providing stability and growth to an economy and "real change to the way we do politics".

He also expressed dismay at voters who were turned away from polling stations which could not cope with increased turnout: "That should never, ever happen again in our democracy."

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Losses at Royal Bank of Scotland have narrowed in the first three months of 2010 after a drop in bad debts.

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The Conservatives have won the most MPs in the UK general election but fallen short of a majority, leading to the first hung parliament since 1974.

As counting continues the Tories have gained 92 seats, Labour have lost 86 and the Lib Dems six, despite hopes of a breakthrough for the third party.

The battle is now under way to see which leader can form a government.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said the situation was "fluid" but the Tories had the first right to seek to govern.

Arriving back at Lib Dem headquarters in London, he said: "It is vital that all parties, all political leaders, act in the national interest and not out of narrow party political advantage."

He said he "stuck by" his view that the party with the biggest mandate – in terms of votes and seats – should have the right to seek to govern first. "It seems this morning, that it’s the Conservative Party that has more votes and more seats though not an absolute majority.

"I think it’s now for the Conservative Party to prove that it’s capable of seeking to govern in the national interest."

David Cameron has said Gordon Brown had "lost his mandate". Mr Brown said "stable, strong" government was needed.

The Tories have won 290 seats so far but it is now not possible for them to reach the 326 seats needed to win an overall majority.

Civil service

Mr Brown, whose party has 247 seats so far, has returned to Downing Street with aides and may turn to Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems, who have so far won 51 seats, to try to form a coalition government.

Downing Street has authorised the civil service to support other parties in hung parliament negotiations – essentially giving the go-ahead for talks to begin.

It means the Conservatives and the Lib Dems will be able to call on support from the civil service on policy or logistics.

The BBC projection suggests David Cameron’s Conservatives will have 306 seats. If there are 10 Unionists elected in Northern Ireland then Mr Cameron might be able to command 316 – probably still slightly too few for him to be sure of winning a Queen’s Speech.

But Labour and the Lib Dems together would have 317 seats, according to the BBC figures, which even with three SDLP MPs would still leave them at 320 – again a few votes short of a majority

In other election night news:

Northern Ireland’s first minister and DUP leaderinEast Belfastby the Alliance party TheGreens gained their first MPat Westminster – party leader Caroline Lucas inBrighton PavillionEducation secretary Ed Balls hung on inMorley and Outwoodby just over 100 votes but former Home Secretary Charles Clarke narrowly lost to the Lib Dem candidate inNorwich SouthJacqui Smith, who stood down as home secretary over her expenses,lost her Redditch seat to the Conservativebut Hazel Blears retained her seat in Salford Labour’s Margaret Hodge beat the BNP’s Nick GriffinMargaret Hodge beat the BNP’s Nick GriffininBarking and Dagenham,with a 5% increase in her vote Esther Rantzen came fourth in Luton South, which went to the Labour candidate Lib Dem frontbencher Lembit Opik has lost his Montgomeryshire seat after suffering a 13.2% swing to the Conservatives There were angry scenes and calls for an inquiry after people wereturned away from polling stationsas long queues formed ahead of the 2200 BST voting deadline.

Senior Labour figures have said that under the rules of Britain’s constitution, the sitting prime minister in a hung parliament makes the first attempt at forming a ruling coalition.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said Mr Brown had returned to Number 10, and was going to rest and "catch his breath" adding: "We have to be patient for some time more."

"It’s not possible to make definite claims or reach final conclusions about the outcome of the election because there are results still to come in," he said.

"You could say the electorate have voted for change but what they haven’t done is voted decisively in favour of the Conservatives."

Asked if it would be "inconceivable" to have a Labour minority or coalition government which did not have Gordon Brown as prime minister, Lord Mandelson said: "Frankly there are quite a number of permutations."

But he added it was "premature" to "start getting into hypotheses".

Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said voters would not be "entirely happy" if Mr Brown "after a defeat like this, were to try to cling on and try to form some sort of coalition of the defeated, some sort of alliance of the dispossessed".

He said: "David Cameron has secure a larger number of votes and a larger share of the votes than Tony Blair secured in 2005 when he became prime minister. The logical next step is for David Cameron to form a Conservative-led government."

Mr Clegg – whose party have not performed as well as expected after a poll surge for the Lib Dems after the first live TV debate – cautioned other leaders against "rushing into making claims or taking decisions" which did not stand the test of time.

He urged everyone involved to "take a little time" to ensure people got the government they deserved during these "difficult times".

But he admitted it had been a "disappointing night" for the Lib Dems.

The Conservatives are predicted to take 297 seats in England, with Labour on 194 and the Lib Dems on 41. The Tories have also made significant gains in Wales – where Labour also regained their former stronghold Blaenau Gwent – but the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru failed to gain target seats.

But in Scotland the Tories failed to make a significant breakthrough, while the Labour vote held up, with the party re-taking two seats it lost in by-elections – Glasgow East and Dunfermline and West Fife. The SNP and Lib Dems fell short of their targets.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister, DUP leader Peter Robinson lost his seat in the first shock result of the night. The other main unionist leader – the UUP’s Sir Reg Empey, was also defeated in South Antrim.

With 17 of 18 Westminster seats declared – the DUP have eight, Sinn Fein have four, the SDLP have three, the Alliance Party has one and one has gone to an independent.

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British Airways will learn later whether it faces a renewed threat of industrial action by cabin crew as fresh ballot results are announced.

Thousands of Unite union members have voted on a new offer aimed at ending a long-running row over pay and conditions, which BA says is "fair".

But Unite has "strongly recommended" its members reject the offer, raising the possibility of more strikes.

Cabin crew strikes in March led to widespread disruption for passengers.

Costly delays

The airline said the seven days of industrial action had cost it up to £45m.

Further disruption to flights caused by ash from the Icelandic volcano in April cost it an additional £180m.

Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, said in a letter to cabin crew that BA was treating staff like second-class citizens who had been "branded" for going on strike.

He said the union was urging rejection of the new offer because BA had failed to restore travel perks taken away from those who went on strike and disciplinary action was being taken against more than 50 union members.

"The charges in the great majority of cases are entirely trivial and barely worthy of a slap on the wrist, let alone the sack," he said.

He added that he had made it clear to members that rejecting the offer could mean them having to "take a stand" against BA again.

Mr Woodley also said Unite had lost trust in BA’s commitment to finding a solution to the dispute.

"By their actions and behaviour throughout the dispute, and continuing to this day, it is impossible to take BA management’s words at their face value," he said.

‘Gross misconduct’

BA said it had put a "fair offer" to Unite that addressed all the concerns raised during the past 14 months of negotiations.

"It offers our cabin crew the assurances they have been asking for, and so we are asking them to accept the proposal and put this dispute behind us," its spokesman said.

The ballot result comes a day after Duncan Holley, a leading union official at BA, claimed he was sacked for gross misconduct for taking time off work before Christmas to carry out union duties.

The Unite branch secretary said his dismissal after 12 years was "politically motivated". BA said it would not comment on individual disciplinary cases.

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Swathes of England turn blue with a 5.7% swing from Labour to Conservatives in parliamentary seats across the country.

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David Cameron will fall 19 seats short of a Commons majority, according to a joint BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll.

The Conservatives would have 307 MPs, up 97 on 2005, Labour would have 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems 59, down 3. Nationalists and others would have 29.

That means Labour and the Lib Dems together could not have a majority.

There are reports of long queues of people still waiting to vote in some parts of the country after the most closely fought election in decades.

Polls closed across the country at 2200 BST but in Sutton Coldfield a BBC reporter says there are plans to lock voters inside the Mere Green Polling Station because the queues are currently so long. There are also reports of long queues in Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and other cities.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has been to a polling station in his Sheffield Hallam constituency, where many are queuing outside, to offer his apologies to voters.

NOP and Mori surveyed 17,607 voters at 130 polling stations across the UK for the BBC/ ITV/Sky exit poll.

Prime minister

All exit polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election such as this one, in which the three main Westminster parties have been so close in the opinion polls.

There could also be different voting patterns around the country.

Nevertheless, Conservative leader David Cameron might find that winning one or two seats in Northern Ireland and forming a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party might be enough to give him a majority, making him Britain’s next prime minister.

The exit poll anticipates that the Labour Party has been more successful at holding on to its vote in seats in Scotland and Wales in seats where there is a large ethnic minority population and where there is an incumbent Labour MP standing again.

The poll also anticipates the Lib Dems will perform better in England than in either Scotland or Wales, but a fall in number of MPs would still come as a blow to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who has been neck-and-neck in the polls with the other two main parties for much of the campaign.

It remains to be seen whether the poll proves to be accurate in its estimate of the Lib Dem performance – deputy leader Vince Cable told BBC News the outcome of the exit poll was "very strange" and insisted they had been "horribly wrong" in the past.

He said his party expected to have gained a lot from postal votes, as they were ahead in some polls when those votes were cast.

Hung Parliament

Labour’s election supremo Lord Mandelson described the election as a "cliff hanger" and refused to rule out trying to strike a deal with the Lib Dems, in the event of a hung Parliament, pointing that according to the rules Labour would have the first attempt at forming a new government.

"It is not the party which has the largest number of seats which has the first go, it is the sitting government," he told BBC News.

He also said that on the basis of the exit poll Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system was "on its last legs".

Electoral reform is one of the Liberal Democrats’s key demands.

Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove told BBC News "exit polls can show rogue results," adding: "We need to see the real results."

The vast majority of constituencies will conduct their counts overnight, with about 20 not due to begin the process until after 0900 GMT on Friday.

Most seats will declare in the early hours of Friday, but a handful of key marginals are expected to declare shortly after midnight, which could give an early indication of how the national result is going.

More than 44 million people are registered to vote in 649 Parliamentary constituencies. Elections are also under way for 164 English councils.

Polling in one constituency – Thirsk and Malton – has been delayed until 27 May because of the death of one of the candidates during the campaign. The exit poll assumes the Conservatives will win here.

Among the council elections taking place, voters will choose representatives in 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan authorities and 20 unitary authorities.

In these elections, a total of 15,785 candidates are contesting 4,222 seats.

Plane crash

Voting will also take place to choose mayors in Hackney, Newham, Lewisham and Watford.

In a separate development, Nigel Farage, a UK Independence Party Euro-MP, said he was "lucky to be alive", after being involved in a light plane crash near Brackley, Northamptonshire.

He is standing in the general election in Buckingham. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries when the aircraft came down just after 0800 BST.

He was initially taken to hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire, before being moved to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The pilot is currently being treated at University Hospital in Coventry.

Mr Farage’s agent, Chris Adams, told the BBC he had to be moved for more checks.

"I believe it’s just precautionary, obviously, for chest pains and we’ve just got to do all the tests… and the required X-rays, and hopefully he’ll be on the mend. The pilot, unfortunately, is in a more severe condition," he said.

A spokeswoman for the John Radcliffe Hospital said Mr Farage would be kept in overnight and "will be with us for a few days".

The crash is being investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Northamptonshire Police. The aircraft was towing a banner when it crashed shortly after take-off.

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Hundreds of people have been denied the chance to vote after being turned away from polling stations across England.

Voters in London, Sheffield, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham were left queuing outside polling stations after they closed at 2200 BST.

There were angry scenes at several polling stations, with voters claiming they were understaffed.

The Electoral Commission said it would be investigating.

In Liverpool, voters were left waiting to vote at one polling station after it ran out of ballot papers.

Officials at the Dunbabin Road station in the Wavertree constituency had to send for more.

Three-hour queues were seen in Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s constituency of Sheffield Hallam, prompting him to apologise to voters.

Police were called to polling stations in Ranmoor and Woodseats in Sheffield to move voters who were refusing to leave.

John Mothersole, Sheffield City Council chief executive and returning officer, has apologised to those unable to vote.

He said: "We got this wrong and I would like to apologise."

Mr Mothersole said the council was "caught out" by high turnouts.

Voters had to to be locked in some polling stations in Birmingham to control crowds after long queues formed.

At St Paul’s Church in the Jewellery Quarter, a number of voters were turned away.

Karl Wilkinson, who lives near the polling station, said queues were forming from 1800 BST with doors shutting promptly at 2200 BST.

He said: "It seems that Birmingham City Council has let us down once again by providing a facility that was wholly inadequate."

Amy Commander was turned away from the St Paul’s polling station at 2205 BST after joining the queue at 2115 BST.

She said: "The police were called to clear the polling station and deal with rightfully angry and shouting crowds."

In London, a Metropolitan Police spokesman described queues of 300 "disappointed people" unable to vote in Lewisham and 150 in Hackney.

Andrew Boff, Conservative mayoral candidate in Hackney, said it was "getting ugly" after people were told they could not vote at a polling station with just three staff.

Voters at a Hackney polling station staged a sit-in protest at being unable to vote.

Asked whether it amounted to a "scandal", Minister for London Tessa Jowell replied: "I think it is. These are queues of people exercising their democratic right and then being denied it."

Georgia Ladbury visited her polling station in Vauxhall, south London, three times before being able to vote and said people were being turned away by 2200 BST.

She said: "It was not as if everyone turned up at 9.55pm expecting to vote.

"The station was definitely understaffed and that would seem to be the only explanation for the problems."

People were turned away from polling stations in parts of Surrey following a higher than expected turnout.

Voters in the constituency of Runnymede and Weybridge were unable to vote because of long queues.

The Electoral Commission said if people had been issued their ballot paper by 2200 BST they were still legally able to vote after that time.

It promised a "thorough review" of what had happened in constituencies where people were unable to vote.

Houghton and Sunderland South was the first to declare its results for the fifth general election in a row.

The constituency declared at 2252 BST. Labour’s Bridget Phillipson won the seat with 19,137 votes.

In Loughborough, Leicestershire, voters were forced to fill out their ballot paper in the back of an officer’s car after the polling station’s caretaker was late for work.

The Albert Street Centre opened 10 minutes late.

Early general election results suggest the Conservatives are on course to be the largest party in a hung Parliament.

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The polls have closed across Wales and the rest of the UK in probably the closest general election for decades.

Counting is beginning in 40 Welsh seats, with all results due overnight.

Labour, who have a notional 30 seats, will hope their support holds up, while Conservatives aim to snatch several seats from the government.

Liberal Democrats aim to add the likes of Newport East to their four seats, while Plaid Cymru have targeted Llanelli and Ceredigion.

According to a joint BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll, the Conservatives will fall 19 seats short of a Commons majority.

The Conservatives would have 307 MPs, up 97 on 2005, Labour would have 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems 59, down 4. Nationalists and others would have 29.

The exit poll was conducted at 130 polling stations across the UK by NOP and Mori.

All exit polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election such as this one, in which the three main Westminster parties have been so close in the opinion polls.

There could also be different voting patterns around the country.

In Wales, Conservatives are hoping to take Cardiff North and the Vale of Glamorgan from Labour.

They are also targeting key seats in north east Wales, from the Vale of Clwyd and Delyn to Clwyd South, constituencies which could indicate David Cameron is heading to Downing Street.

The new seat of Aberconwy, which is notionally held by Labour after boundary changes, is also a Tory target.

Labour will hope their voters turn out. After Welsh Secretary Peter Hain urged anti-Tory electors to vote "intelligently", they may also rely on supporters of other parties to back Labour in seats where the Tories could win.

Labour will also hope to win back Blaenau Gwent, which was one of their valley strongholds until it was won by the independent Dai Davies in 2005.

Plaid Cymru would like to retake Ynys Mon, which is held by their leader Ieuan Wyn Jones in the Welsh assembly. Plaid are also trying to take Llanelli from Labour, and Ceredigion from the Lib Dems.

At a UK level, Plaid will also be hoping for a hung parliament – or a balanced parliament as they put it – where they can team up with the SNP to gain concessions for Wales and Scotland from a minority government.

Lib Dems want to hold off the Tories in Montgomeryshire and Brecon and Radnorshire, and have also focused on Swansea West and Newport East.

The last general election in 2005 saw 62.6% of voters in Wales cast their ballots, which was up from the 2001 figure of 62.4%.

A recent survey by YouGov suggested that 73% of the estimated 2.3m eligible adults in Wales intended to vote this time.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is committed to ending the North’s nuclear programme, Chinese state media says.

Mr Kim arrived in China on Monday, in a visit shrouded in secrecy.

State news agency Xinhua said he had told Chinese President Hu Jintao he would work with China "to create favourable conditions" for talks.

Six-party negotiations to dismantle the North’s nuclear capability are hosted by China and involve the two Koreas, the US, Japan and Russia.

North Korea quit the six-party talks in April 2009, after the UN imposed sanctions for a missile test by Pyongyang. The North carried out a second nuclear test a month later.

"The DPRK (North Korea) is willing to work with you to create favourable conditions for a resumption of the six-party talks," China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted Mr Kim as telling Mr Hu.

No timetable was given for a return to talks, and similar statements of intent have been attributed to Mr Kim in the past. Xinhua gave no details of any pledges of economic aid or other agreements reached between the two allies.

"China will, as always, support the DPRK’s economic development and improving people’s livelihood," Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as telling Mr Kim in a separate meeting.

Mr Wen was quoted as saying that China would assist North Korea with lessons from its own economic reform process.

State TV footage showed Mr Kim, who is 68 years old, looking frail and thin.

The North Korean leader is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008.

Speculation over his health has fuelled uncertainty about who will succeed him and the impact on Pyongyang’s nuclear capability.

"The leader of the DPRK received a sincere and warm welcome from Chinese people wherever he went in China," reported the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

"Kim Jong-il expressed satisfaction over the result of his visit."

This week’s visit was Kim’s fifth to China since succeeding his father as ruler in 1994, with the last in 2006.

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LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST) 0106 FOYLE ALERT: It’s expected that the count in Derry will resume. The candidates have been brought into the building to inspect the seals on the padlocked doors and an announcement is expected soon.

0104 A reminder that the nearest Alliance ever came to winning a seat in Northern Ireland before was in 1979, the year Peter Robinson was first elected narrowly defeating Oliver Napier (and Bill Craig).

0103 DUP HOLD: David Simpson wins in Upper Bann, retaining his parliamentary seat.

0100 BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent Gareth Gordon says Peter Robinson’s entire future in politics is now in question. In all the excitement, we forgot to mention this is the Alliance Party’s first ever Westminster seat.

0058 Mr Robinson congratulates Mrs Long for her victory. He says: "Of course there will be many people who look at the election and draw their own conclusions about my defeat. I had indicated to many people I would prefer not to stand in this election, so be careful what you wish for." He adds: "No matter what role I play my part I will do my best to get the best deal for the people in Northern Ireland."

0052 Naomi Long polled 12,839 votes while Peter Robinson got 11,306. At the last general election, Mr Robinson polled 15,152 votes (it would have been 18,087 votes according to those adjusted figures). UCU candidate Trevor Ringland came third with 7,305 votes.

0049 ALLIANCE GAIN: Huge shock as Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long unseats DUP leader Peter Robinson. Wow.

0047 SF’s Bairbre de Brun thinks that big fall in West Tyrone turnout (74% down to 62%) may be because the seat is now so safe for SF that people haven’t bothered to come out. By the way, West Tyrone was the fourth constituency to declare in the whole of the UK. Meanwhile, we’re holding our breath waiting for East Belfast here…

0044 BBC Radio Ulster reporter Simon Hunter says that East Belfast could be the story of the election. He says he is hearing from good sources that Naomi Long has beaten Peter Robinson.

0043 Ooh, this could be a big one in East Belfast. The BBC’s Andy Martin says it is too close to call between DUP leader Peter Robinson and the Alliance’s Naomi Long. Mrs Long is looking very nervous. Her tallymen think she could be 1,000 ahead at the moment. Result coming in five to 10 minutes…

0039 DUP HOLD: Ian Paisley Jr replaces his father as North Antrim. Victorious, he takes to the podium singing a hymn. Not sure if Simon Cowell will be on the phone.

0037 SINN FEIN HOLD: Pat Doherty wins with 18,050 votes. The overall turnout was 37,632, or 61.54% of the overall electorate. "That’s another magnificent victory for Sinn Fein in West Tyrone," he says. He’s got a majority of 10,685.

0034 Looks like West Tyrone’s about to be declared within minutes, with Sinn Fein’s Pat Doherty winning on about 18,000 votes.

0032 Gareth Gordon adds it was interesting to hear that the candidate’s name on the North Antrim ballot paper was Ian Paisley, with "junior" omitted.

0028 BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent Gareth Gordon says that the DUP will be making "long, loud noises into the night" if Ian Paisley Junior holds the North Antrim seat comfortably. He adds though that it might be too soon to write off the TUV, particularly with an Assembly election looming next year.

0027 TUV leader Jim Allister has conceded that the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr has won in North Antrim.

0024 Mark Devenport says on his blogthat Lucid Talk pollster Bill White has shared his estimates of South Belfast with him. He reckons the SDLP’s Alasdair McDonnell will get 34.7%, the DUP 26.2%, UCUNF 20.8% Alliance 15.3% and the Greens 3%. Incidentally, back in 2005 Alliance polled 6.3% of the vote – where has that big jump come from? Sinn Fein supporters?

0016 Ian Paisley Sr says the people have spoken in North Antrim and the TUV have been "written off". Indeed, a developing story from several constituencies seems to be that the TUV have not done significant damage to the DUP.

0012 FOYLE ALERT: Enda McClafferty on Radio Ulster says that following a short news conference with a senior police officer, it seems likely that the Foyle and East Londonderry counts may be suspended for the night because of the bomb alert at Templemore Leisure Centre. The candidates are being shown that the building is secure, so that the votes cannot be tampered with.

0009 Remember that West Tyrone time of 0230 that we mentioned earlier? Well we’re now hearing it could be as early as 0030. Pat Doherty was 1/100 with one local bookmaker to retain this seat for Sinn Fein. That’s putting on £100 to win a quid! Still, you never know.

0007 BBC Radio Ulster reporter Andy Martin says that the TUV are not even monitoring the North Down count – they are more interested in watching the East Belfast count which is being held in the same building in Newtownards. He says the talk there is "they’d be better to weigh Lady Sylvia’s vote than count it".

0003 Ian Paisley Snr has just arrived at the North Antrim count, says BBC reporter Julia Paul.

0000 Some more Twitter chat that Naomi Long is polling well in East Belfast, though there’s no hard figures as yet. DUP leader Peter Robinson has had what the Queen might describe as an"annus horribilis"but he is still favourite to retain hisEast Belfastseat. Mr Robinson has angrily rejected what he terms BBC "smears" about his land deals and his handling of his wife’s conduct. It seemed for a while last year that Mr Robinson might give up his Westminster seat to concentrate on Stormont. But now he says he will be the exception holding on to both his MP and MLA roles,while his DUP colleagues will give up so called "double-jobbing".The main contenders vying to overturn his 5,877 majority are former Ireland rugby international Trevor Ringland for the Conservatives and Unionists, and Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long, who is Belfast Lord Mayor. During the campaign,Alliance depicted Mrs Long as a superherobut Mr Robinson has shown he can draw on reserves of hidden strengths himself….

2358 BBC Radio Ulster reporter Will Leitch says that DUP sources at the North Antrim count at Seven Towers Leisure Centre believe Ian Paisley Junior of the DUP will win the seat comfortably though the turnout may be down from 62% in 2005. He’s not sure when all the votes will be counted – it’s a distinctive constituency given that one of the ballot boxes has to travel by boat, from Rathlin Island.

2350 FOYLE ALERT: Mark Durkan, SDLP candidate for Foyle, tells Radio Ulster that he is standing at the back of Templemore Leisure Centre because of the bomb alert. He says a sheltered housing complex where a number of elderly people live is also currently being evacuated. He says that those who are responsible for the alert did not stand for election because "they knew they would get very little support".

2348 Is the plot thickening in DUP leader Peter Robinson’s East Belfast constituency (see 2321 update) ? The TUV is claiming Alliance candidate Naomi Long has done well in some solidly loyalist areas.

2346 FOYLE ALERT: Professor of Politics at QUB, Rick Wilford, says on Radio Ulster that the Londonderry bomb alert is anti-politics, an attack on democracy, banal and predictable. He adds though that he is surprised that no contingency plans had been made, given the wide speculation that the election would be targeted.

2343 A senior DUP source tells Martina Purdy they believe the DUP’s Ian Paisley Junior may be on about 50% with the TUV’s Jim Allister back on 16 or 17%.

2341 FOYLE ALERT: BBC Radio Ulster reporter Enda McClafferty says that it was hoped the count in Derry could go on because there was "no glass" in the area of the building where the votes are being counted – however because the media were in the reception which is surrounded by glass, the building was evacuated.

2339 Conservative and Unionist North Down candidate Ian Parsley has conceded the constituency to Lady Sylvia Hermon.On Facebook.

2333 MORE BREAKING NEWS from the counting centre for the Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies. The count centre has now been evacuated after a car was abandoned in the car park outside the Templemore sports complex. BBC reporter Keiron Tourish has to finish his piece to camera in a hurry as everyone is ushered away from the building.

2328 The Conservatives and Unionists found it tricky picking their candidate to unseat the DUP’s William McCrea asSouth AntrimMP.UUP leader Sir Reg Empey entered the frayafter a row over their original choice of local candidate andhis Chris Grayling-like views on gay bed and breakfast guests. Sir Reg was parachuted in from east Belfast (not literally) at an advanced stage of the campaign, and as an outsider he has had to work hard to get his campaign off the ground. In saying that, Magherafelt native Mr McCrea isn’t exactly a local, having previously been Mid-Ulster MP from 1983 to 1997. However, he’s had a lot longer to gauge the lay of the land in South Antrim. Can the TUV’s Mel Lucas put enough of a dent in the DUP vote to let Sir Reg in?

2325 The BBC’s Rosy Billingham says that both the DUP’s William McCrea and Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey have arrived at the Valley Leisure Centre for the South Antrim count. She points out that if Sir Reg is elected, he will effectively be Sir Reg Empey-Empey – get it? Say it out loud…

2321 BBC Radio Ulster reporter Simon Hunter in East Belfast says that Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long is not happy with how she has polled there.

2320 Professor of Politics at Queen’s University Rick Wilford says on BBC Radio Ulster that if Rodney Connor is elected in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, we are likely to see greater momentum towards unionist unity candidates before the Assembly election in 2011.

2317 The BBC’s Andy Martin says that in North Down, it looks like a Lady Sylvia Hermon landslide. She may have got as much as 60% of the vote. She was on 50% in 2005, but the DUP ran in that contest. North Down is a funny sort of place…well, election-wise anyway.Its last three MPs were somewhat out of step with party politics in Northern Ireland: independent unionist James Kilfedder (from 1970 to 1995); the UKUP’sBob McCartney(1995 to 2001); andLady Hermon(2001 – ?). Lady Hermon was elected as an Ulster Unionist MP but she strongly objected to the party’s electoral pact with David Cameron’s Conservatives.After more than a year of keeping people guessing,she quit the UUP in March and is standing as an independent. Her Ulster Conservative and Unionist opponent is Ian Parsley,a former Alliance memberwho stood as its candidate in last June’s European election. The DUP’s decision to stand aside will assist Lady Hermon, who is so popular in North Down that one caller told a BBC Radio Ulster show he would vote for her if she was "standing for al-Qaeda".

2315 Regarding that exit poll from earlier, AP Westminster political correspondent David Stringer says the revised exit poll puts the Lib Dems up. New figure: Cons 305 seats; Lab 255; Lib Dems 61; Others 29.

2311 BREAKING NEWS from the counting centre for the Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies. Police are saying a car has been driven into the car park of Templemore Sports complex and abandoned. The bomb squad has been called but the count is continuing.

2309 The DUP’s Arlene Foster says on BBC One NI that turnout in Fermanagh South Tyrone is in the "high 70s".

2307 The big story inFermanagh and South Tyronehas been unity candidates or the lack of them.Sinn Fein tried to get the SDLP to stand asideand give Michelle Gildernew a clear run at defending her seat. In return they would stand down Alex Maskey in South Belfast to assist SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell. This offer was rebuffed by the SDLP, who are fielding their own celebrity candidate, UTV exile Fearghal McKinney.Alex Maskey dropped out of the race,amid Sinn Fein accusations of vote-splitting. It’s clearly a vulnerable seat. When Mrs Gildernew first took the seat in 2001 after the UUP’s Ken Maginnis retired, she won by just 53 votes (she had a 4,582 majority in 2005). On the unionist side, things are a lot clearer:the DUP and UUP agreed to step asidein favour of independent unionist Rodney Connor, the former chief executive of Fermanagh District Council who bears a passing resemblance to Ken Maginnis.

2303 Daithi McKay, Sinn Fein candidate for North Antrim,says on Twitter that it is looking good for the DUP there. The battle forNorth Antrimhas been rumbling on for almost three years to the day. It was 8 May 2007 when Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness took their pledge of office andformally brought back power-sharing.In the months that followed, hardline DUP MEPJim Allisterquit the party in protest and set up the Traditional Unionist Voice. Since then, Mr Paisley has stood down as DUP leader and his son Ian Junior isseeking to replace him as MP.In last June’s European election, Mr Allister lost his seat but gave the DUP a bloody nose by making asizeable dent in their vote. What happens next? Watch this space…

2254 Arlene Foster on BBC TV coverage says the DUP won’t be running to David Cameron, though he may be running to them. David McNarry of the UCU says its clear the Conservatives are going to form the government.

2252 One of the more colourful election hopefuls is Ross Hussey, the Ulster Conservative and Unionist candidate inWest Tyrone.Mr Hussey isa dead ringer for Family Guy character Peter Griffin.When he was told about his doppelganger by his 23-year-old nephew and a young party worker, instead of taking offence he got them to produce an election poster with Peter Griffin on it. Unfortunately this didn’t really fit in with the UCU’s election strategy. Any other NI election lookalikes?Let us know on Twitter.

2246 FACT!Just 21 of the 108 candidates standing are women.However,South Downwill probably be getting a female MP. In the green corner we have SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie who wants to succeedparty veteran Eddie McGrady.In the other green corner it’s Sinn Fein’s Caitriona Ruane, the former tennis champion and education minister at Stormont. Mr McGrady had a 9,000 majority over Ms Ruane in 2005, but the balance between the two parties was much closer in the 2007 Assembly elections, when Ms Ruane topped the poll. Some unionists in South Down reckon her controversial handling of her education briefmay encourage tactical voting for the SDLP.Intriguing.

2242 Here’s a crash course in key election battlegrounds,courtesy of BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport. He drily notes that in days gone by, "it was sometimes said that you could put a donkey up in certain parts of Northern Ireland and pin an orange or green rosette on it, with a fair degree of certainty the animal would get elected". This election does promise to be different, he adds.

2240 Speaking of Twitter, veteran journalistEamonn Mallietweets that the chap who runs the election counts in Sunderland has been over to advise his counterparts in Northern Ireland about how ours can be speeded up. Houghton and Sunderland South is aiming to be the first to declare in the whole of the UK within the next ten minutes. Sunderland South, as it was known before boundary changes, has been first to declare in every election since 1992.

2238 If you’re one of those new-fangled Twitter people, you can follow us@bbcvoteni2010.It seems like the best hashtag to use in following the election tweets is#geni.If this means nothing to you, well there’s no need for alarm.

2235 Alliance candidate Gerry Lynch says his rival Sammy Wilson of DUP "is going to walk East Antrim" and he has already congratulated him.

2231 BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport says that if the exit poll is true, while the DUP on their own wouldn’t be able to guarantee anyone a majority, our local MPs could certainly be in the mix.Read more of his thoughts here.

2226 If you’re planning on staying up late for the results, here’s a very rough estimate of declaration times. Of course, these are subject to change as the night goes on: West Belfast should be first at 0030, with North Belfast next at 0130. East Belfast and South Belfast could be in at 0200, then its Foyle, North Down and West Tyrone at 0230. Four constituencies could be in at 0300 – East Antrim, South Antrim, South Down and Upper Bann. At 0330 we’ve got the last lot: East Londonderry, Fermanagh South Tyrone, Lagan Valley, Mid Ulster, Newry and Armagh, North Antrim and Strangford. Phew!

2216 Over the course of the night, you may hear a lot of talk about adjusted voting figures from the 2005 general election. In essence, there have been boundary changes in some constituencies so to give an idea of the actual changes in the vote, a team of experts has gone back into the records to find out what the result would be in 2005 if the new boundaries were in place back then. Confused?There’s a more in-depth explanation here.

2213 BBC Radio Ulster reporter Andy Martin says the largest number of vote counters is at Newtownards Leisure Centre, where 199 of them are counting up votes from North Down, Strangford and East Belfast. "The room itself resembles a cross between a football pitch and a massive exam hall. Supervisors are quietly explaining to the counters what they are to do, and how to have their figures verified. Many here are counting for the first time and three ladies sitting together say they have no idea what to expect. Their first question is "when does the drinks trolley come round?". The hall is divided into two teams, each literally on a separate pitch – North Down and East Belfast. When the whistle blows for time on those counts, the hope is that completed ballots from the far reaches of the Ards Peninsula will have arrived and be ready for a new combined team to finish the game."

2206 That exit poll means that we are anticipating that the Conservatives would be 19 seats short of an overall majority. Mr Cameron might find that winning one or two seats in Northern Ireland plus a deal with the DUP may not be sufficient to give him a majority.

2205 Could the DUP be in play here? The exit poll for BBC, Sky and ITV News predicts a hung parliament with the Conservatives the largest party. The poll puts the Conservatives on 307 seats, Labour on 255, the Liberal Democrats on 59 and others on 29. By the way, there’s no exit poll for Northern Ireland so we’ll just have to wait.

2200 And that’s it… polling has just closed. Political sources in Northern Ireland are indicating a fairly high turnout of more than 60%. Voting is reported to have been particularly brisk in western areas especially Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Ballot papers will now be collected from 610 locations across Northern Ireland and taken to eight different counting centres.

2158 This is the first time that we’ve had overnight counting in Northern Ireland. During the Troubles, overnight counts did not take place because of security reasons. Ballot boxes were kept locked up overnight for counting in the morning, much to the frustration of candidates, agents, political parties and the media.There’s a much fuller explanation here.

2155 Hello and welcome to our live blog of general election night in Northern Ireland. Eighteen seats are up for grabs and we’ll be here all night to bring you the latest developments as they happen. According to rough guestimates, the first result could be in 0030 and the last at 0330 but the situation remains, as airports have been telling us in recent days, "fluid". Stay tuned.

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