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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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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