UK elections | Cameron prime minister, Miliband resigns, unelected Farage set to step down

The Conservatives will be the largest party in the UK elections with David Cameron possibly gaining a majority in the UK general election.

David Cameron is on course to secure an astonishing electoral triumph as the Conservative party headed towards an overall majority and unseated a raft of senior political opponents including the Labour shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, and the Lib Dem business secretary, Vince Cable.

Labour was wiped out by the SNP in Scotland and is failing to make the gains it needs in England to stand a chance of forming a government.

The Liberal Democrats could finish with as few as 8 MPs, with Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Simon Hughes losing their seats.

The SNP could be set to gain more than 50% of the vote in Scotland.

Across the Midlands, Scotland and even in London, the swings Labour needed in order to make gains simply failed to appear, and far from a swing to Labour, the results revealed the Conservative party strengthening its vote. The current predictions suggest Cameron will have a small majority, with his party on course to have around 329 seats.

A devastated Ed Miliband is expected to resign on Friday after talking to staff at the party’s headquarters, admitting the scale of the crushing defeat had taken him and his staff by surprise.

Speaking in Doncaster, where he retained his seat, Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "Clearly this has been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party. We haven't made the gains we wanted in England and Wales and in Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelming our party."

He said the next government had a "huge responsibility" and a difficult task to "keep our country together".

Ukip was dealt a severe blow on Friday after its leader, Nigel Farage, was beaten by his Tory opponent in the coastal Kent constituency of South Thanet.

Farage finished in second place behind Craig MacKinlay, sparking frenzied expectations that the Ukip leader would now make good on a promise to step down if he failed to win.

MacKinlay, a one-time member of Ukip who held a senior position in the party before coming back to the Conservatives, gained more than 18,000 votes to Farage’s 16,026. The Labour candidate Will Scobie finished in third place with 11,740 votes.

Farage’s failure in South Thanet now throws up major questions about what he will do next and the future direction of the party.

The finishing line needed to form an absolute majority is 326. Labour is being hammered in Scotland by the SNP, with Nicola Sturgeon's party on course to take as many as 56 of the nation's 59 seats.

Jim Murphy, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander have both lost their seats to the SNP, which is benefiting from a 27% average swing from Labour.