Labour escapes meltdown in night of electoral chaos
Labour is today reeling from a heavy drubbing at the polls but the party looks set to be spared the catastrophic results that some had predicted.
After a night of electoral chaos in Scotland, the SNP today claimed it was on course to land the biggest share of votes in the most closely-contested election for years.
But 12 hours after the polls closed it remained unclear who will win the most seats and it could be days before the next First Minister is unveiled.
SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said: "There's a long way to go but it's certainly looking likely that we will be the biggest party in terms of the popular vote."
Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, pulled off a historic victory, coming from third place to take a seat in Gordon, but it is as yet uncertain whether the nationalists have done enough to become the largest party at Holyrood.
Across Britain, the Tories made significant gains but failed to make inroads in key cities like Manchester, where the party still has no seats.
It was a disappointing night for the Liberal Democrats, who had hoped to capitalise on anti-Labour sentiment. In the event, the party appeared to be losing ground, despite a number of high-profile wins.
Results so far suggest that the parties' share of the vote will leave the Conservatives on 41%, Labour on 27%, and the Liberal Democrats on 26%.
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, said the results were "stunning", and proved the Tories were "the one national party speaking up for Britain".
Labour party chair, Hazel Blears, admitted it had not been a brilliant night for Labour but added: "I still think the Tories have not made that breakthrough."
Confusion in Scotland
In Scotland, problems with a new electronic counting system, being used for the first time, meant several counts were suspended until later today.
And as many as 100,000 votes may have been discounted across the country because they were classed as spoilt papers.
Results were also delayed by a man smashing up ballot boxes with a golf club in an Edinburgh polling station.
The problems caused widespread anger among politicians and led to demands for an inquiry.
Amid the chaos, there were some spectacular gains and losses.
As Mr Salmond's 2,062 majority was announced, he said: "There is a wind of change blowing through Scottish politics."
It was "entirely possible" that Labour would have its lowest share of the vote in Scotland since 1922, he said.
The SNP's deputy leader, Nicola Sturgeon, scored a similar triumph in Glasgow Govan, where she captured the seat from Labour at the third time of trying.
The SNP also robbed Labour of Kilmarnock and Loudon, Central Fife, Dundee West and Stirling.
In some areas Labour defied expectations but the overriding theme of the evening was the chaos surrounding the counting.
Almost 10% of ballot papers were "spoilt" as they were not filled in correctly and there were severe problems with new electronic counting machinery - prompting calls for an inquiry.
Labour suffers losses in Wales
In Wales, Labour looked on course to become the largest party but is likely to fall short of the 30 seats needed for a majority, with the Tories and Plaid both making gains.
With more than half the results still to be declared the full picture from these elections has still to emerge.
But by this morning, Labour had lost such seats as leafy Cardiff North, which contains some of Wales' wealthiest addresses and was snatched by the Tories with an impressive swing, and ultra-marginal Llanelli, which was regained by nationalists Plaid Cymru.
Labour leader Rhodri Morgan faces a weekend of bargaining with other parties if he is to stay in power, with the Liberal Democrats his most likely coalition partners.
A weekend of bargaining with other parties could be ahead if it wants to stay in power, despite the Labour leader, Rhodri Morgan, predicting that his party would be the largest "by far" in the new assembly.
Despite losing the chance to govern alone, he said: "I feel very upbeat about the situation of Welsh Labour and our relationship with the people."
Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, said: "It's clear that Labour has lost ground in this election and it's also clear that Plaid Cymru has made gains."
Local elections: Labour wiped out in West Country
In England, the loss of four councils to the Tories and two to no overall control was offset by Labour's success in snatching North Lincolnshire from David Cameron's party.
Most worrying for the Labour party's high command was the loss of both Plymouth and Gravesham in Kent - two of Labour's few remaining strongholds in the south outside London.
Conservative victory in Devon's largest city completes the wipe-out of Labour councils in the West Country.
Other councils lost to the Tories were Lincoln and North-West Leicestershire, while Labour gave up overall control in Jack Straw's home council of Blackburn with Darwen, as well as Oldham.
With 137 out of 312 councils declared, Labour's net loss of 163 seats suggested it would end the day well short of the 650-750 losses that had been predicted.
According to BBC projections, the Tory party is set to take a 41% share of the vote, with Labour up 1% on last year to 27%, only just ahead of the Lib Dems on 26%.
guardian
