With results in from all but one of the 650 constituencies, the two major parties have both failed to gain the 326 seats needed for an outright victory.
Latest results: 649 declared
Conservatives: 306 (+97)
Labour: 258 (-91)
Liberal Democrats: 57 (-5)
Others: 28 (Democratic Unionist 8, Scottish National 6, Sinn Fein 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Social Democratic & Labour 3, Alliance 1, Green 1)
7am (NZ time): Conservative leader David Cameron offers his Liberal Democrat equivalent, Nick Clegg, a role in a "collaborative" government to break the stalemate election result, which gave no party an absolute majority for the first time in 36 years.
England, 532 out of 533 seats declared – Conservatives 297 (+92), Labour 191 (-87), Liberal Democrats 43 (-4), Green 1 (+1).
Wales, all seats declared – C 8 (+5), L 26 (-4), LD 3 (-1), Plaid Cymru 3 (+1).
Scotland, no change after all seats declared – L 41, LD 11, Scottish National 6, C 1.
Northern Ireland, all seats declared – Democratic Unionist 8 (-1) Sinn Fein 5, SDL 4, Alliance (+1).
11.30pm: David Cameron says Labour has lost mandate but he lacks the numbers to form a government. Labour's Gordon Brown says he will talk to the Liberal Democrats once more seats are decided, but these parties also lack an absolute majority
10pm: England, 506 out of 533 seats declared, Conservatives 282 (+87), Labour 184 (-83), Liberal Democrats 39 (-4).
Wales, with all seats declared, C 8 (+5), L 26 (-4), LD 3 (-1), Plaid Cymru 3 (+1).
Scotland, with one seat to be decided, there is no change – L 41, LD 10, Scottish Nationals 6 and C 1.
Northern Ireland, one seat yet to declare, Democratic Unionist 8 (-1) Sinn Fein 4 and SDL 4.
9.30pm The UK has its first hung parliament since 1974, with the Conservatives s the largest party. The Tories have won 291 seats so far but cannot now reach the 326 needed to win an overall majority.
8.30pm With 615 seats decided, the BBC is predicting a hung Parliament with the Tories as the largest party. The BBC projection suggests David Cameron's Conservatives will have 306 seats. If there are 10 pro-Tory Unionists elected in Northern Ireland, then Mr Cameron will still be 10 seats short of a majority.
5.30pm: It's a new morning in the UK, but a definite result is unlikely for some time to come. With just 90 seats still to be finalised, a hung parliament is now a certainty.
5.00pm: So near and yet so far – despite a big swing to the Conservative platform, the party looks set to fall 20 seats short of a winning majority.
4.30pm: More than three quarters of the results are in and more than 50 seats have now swung into the Conservative camp. Latest estimates indicate that Labour may only have secured 28.2% of the total vote - the worst result in decades.
4.00pm: It's 5am in the UK and dozens of seats have swung to the Conservative side, but with more than 100 still needed to win, the picture remains unclear. While the Liberal Democrats have not won key seats they had targeted, they could still hold the key to a working government.
3.30pm: Almost 60% of seats have confirmed their results, and while the Conservatives now have 40 constituencies over their rivals, the possibility of a hung parliament looks more and more certain.
3.00pm: The Conservatives are pulling ahead but the election is being somewhat over-shadowed by controversy over problems at polling stations. In London 50 people staged a sit-in protest at a polling station after they were told they were too late to vote.
2.30pm: The Conservatives have now overtaken Labour while the Liberal Democrats continue to disappoint, failing to take advantage of good polling pre-election. More than a third of seats are now decided.
2.00pm: Results are in for more than a quarter of the seats and the Conservatives have continued to win electorates from Labour while leader David Cameron easily won his home seat of Witney.
1.30pm: With nearly 20% of the seats finalised, the Conservatives are eating away at that Labour lead, picking up several new seats from the incumbents around the country.
1.00pm: Labour continues to hold that early lead, with Gordon Brown holding his home seat of Kirkcaldy, but there are still 589 results to come in.
12.30pm: The Conservatives have their first seat by winning Kingswood from Labour and have followed it up with three more, but still trails behind Gordon Brown's team at this early stage.
12.00pm: The Conservatives are yet to secure their first seat, but the Liberal Democrats, Sinn Fein, Alliance Party and the Democratic Unionist Party are all on the board.
11.30am: Polls have closed and the first three results have come in, with Labour taking the first three seats in Sunderland, an area well known for its speedy voting counting. But the latest exit polls continue to point towards a Conservative victory, although a BBC poll predicts it will only snare 305 seats - not enough for an outright win.
NBR staff
Sat, 08 May 2010
