BBC News with Marion Marshall.
As early results come in from around Britain after a closely-fought campaign, an exit poll has suggested that the Conservative Party leader, David Cameroon, will
return to office as Prime Minister. The poll predicts Conservatives on 316 seats in Parliament, just short of an overall majority. The main opposition, Labour Party,
has described the exit poll as inconsistent with surveys throughout the campaign, which forecast a close finish. Here is our political correspondent, Rob Watson.
“The first results from across the U.K.'s 650 constituencies appear to confirm the exit poll's prediction of a truly dramatic outcome to Britain's general election.
David Cameroon and the Conservatives have done far better than expected, and Labour and the Liberal Democrats disastrously worse. Most striking of all, perhaps, is the
possibility that the Scottish National Party could win as many as 58 out of Scotland's 59 seats. As to the other so-called smaller parties, the anti-E.U. UKIP, and
Greens, it seems they may have won many votes, but the Britain's electoral system means that has not translated into more than a handful of seats.”
Despite being the largest party, the poll suggests the Conservatives would need to form a coalition or lead a minority government. The former Conservative Minister,
Ken Clarke, said it was overwhelmingly likely that David Cameroon would stay as Prime Minister.
“It's far too soon to start speculating about what sort of government we'll formed, who to deal with whom. But David has had a good result, much better I think than
most people had expected, and the chances of David Cameroon carring on as Prime Minister are overwhelmingly likely. But it's going to be a different sort of
government, and a different sort of parliament.”
But Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has questioned the exit poll results.
“Even if the exit poll is right, the overall impact of that is that the coalition has lost its majority. It had a majority of 73. That now seems to have disappeared.
And that, I think, does mean that, you know, what David Cameroon said was that he was aiming to win a majority. He has failed to do that. And it does look like that
this is very difficult, even on this exit poll, for him to command the confidence of the House of Commons.”
The landslide victory predicted for the Scottish National Party north of the border reflects the surge in support it enjoyed since failing secure independence in last
year's referendum. Most of their gains would be at the expense of Labour. Colin Blane is at a count in Glasgow.
“Grim faces in the Labour count here in Glasgow. I was talking, for example, to the SNP team watching Glasgow's northeast, which is hardest of all the seats for them
to win, and they say they are well ahead, they are elsewhere, the story is similar. So it looks as if Labour are on track to lose all 7 Glasgow seats. And bear in mind
that 6 of these seats have majority of over ten thousand.”
You're listening to the latest world news from the BBC.
The U.S. military has begun training a small group of Syrian rebels to try to build a force capable of confronting the Islamic State militant group. The U.S. Defence
Secretary, Ashton Carter, said about 90 people were being trained in, what he called, a secure location. He said more fighters would start training soon.
Senators in the United States have approved a bill that will give Congress the power to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran. The White House said
President Obama would sign it into law if the House of Representatives approves it, too. The BBC's Washington correspondent says the bill is a compromise between
lawmakers, who believe they've been sidelined during the nuclear talks, and the President, who believes Congressional interference would hamper negotiations.
The U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has joined Polish leaders in Gdansker at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Many
European leaders chose to attend the late-night event in preference to Russia's Victory Parade on Saturday. Here's our correspondent in Poland, Adam Easton.
“Poland saw in the 70th anniversary at the stroke of midnight with a 21 gun salute. In his speech, Poland's President, Bronislaw Komorowski, said the war started with
the cooperation of two totalitarian regimes led by Hitler and Stalin. He said the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 did not bring freedom to this part of Europe.
Instead, it brought Communism and the Iron Curtain.”
The unmanned Russian spaceship that span out of control while delivering cargo to the International Space Station last week is due to burn up in the atmosphere
shortly. Russian space officials say the Progress supply ship should almost completely incinerate during reentry and pose no threat.