MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Conservatives on course to a major victory, as SNP wipes out Labor in Scotland

The exit poll suggested the Tories will get 316 MPs and Labor will get 239 MPs, despite initial incredulity from Labor and the Lib Dems (Pic: BBC/Sky News/ITV)

The Conservatives are on course to be the largest party with David Cameron hopeful of gaining a majority in the UK general election. Labor faces being 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 Lib Dems could finish with as few as 10 MPs, with Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Simon Hughes losing their seats. The Scottish National Party could be set to gain more than 50% of the vote in Scotland.

In other election developments:

Nick Clegg has held on to his Sheffield Hallam seat but said it had been a “cruel and punishing night” for his party.

Scottish Labor leader Jim Murphy and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander have lost their seats to the SNP.

UKIP are polling strongly in the North of England and Douglas Carswell has retained his Clacton seat but Nigel Farage could fail to win South Thanet.

Conservative minister Esther McVey has lost Wirral West to Labor.

The Green Party is predicted to get two MPs according to the NOP/MORI exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky.

The exit poll suggested the Tories will get 316 MPs and Labor will get 239 MPs and despite initial incredulity from Labor and the Lib Dems it so far appears to be accurate.

David Cameron looks like he will be able to remain in Number 10 as the head of a minority government without the need for a coalition, although he might have to rely on the support of the DUP or the Lib Dems.

Even if Labor leader Ed Miliband was able to persuade the Lib Dems to join the SNP in backing a Labor government, he would not have the necessary numbers to get his legislative program through Parliament in a Queen's Speech.

The finishing line needed to form an absolute majority is 326, but because Sinn Fein MPs have not taken up seats and the Speaker does not normally vote, the finishing line has, in practice, been 323.

Labor 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 Labor 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.

Conceding defeat, Mr. Murphy said it had “proven hard to turn round years of difficulties with the Scottish Labor Party in just five short months”. He congratulated the SNP on the scale of their victory but said he intended to continue as the party's leader in Scotland.

“Scotland needs a strong Labor Party and our fight-back starts tomorrow morning,” he added.

The exit poll suggests the Lib Dems will lose 47 seats, taking the party back to its 1970s level of representation at Westminster.

Clegg said: “It is now painfully clear this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats. The election has profound implications for the country and for the Liberal Democrats.

”I will be seeking to make further remarks about the implications of this election - both for the country and for the party that I lead and for my position in the Liberal Democrats - when I make remarks to my colleagues in the Liberal Democrats later this morning when I return to Westminster.”