Election Results

5.48.33am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 6th May 2005

Key results are being updated on the national Liberal Democrat website - www.libdems.org.uk as quickly as possible. Victories appear in the MPs section, other results in the candidates section. NB. Times will normally be time of posting, but may be may be time of declaration. Below are the highlights so far

Key results are being updated on the website as quickly as possible. Victories appear in the MPs section, other results in the candidates section. NB. Times will normally be time of posting, but may be may be time of declaration.

18.30 With all results from England, Scotland and Wales now in, apart from Harlow and South Staffs, the results show Lib Dems up nearly 4%, the Conservatives up 0.5% and Labour down nearly 6%. Lib Dems are up a net 11 seats to 62 seats, our highest representation in the House of Commons since 1923. For more information see the BBC website.

18.00: News since last posting -

HOLD - Alan Reid holds Argyll and Bute with an increased share of the vote

HOLD - Berwick-upon-Tweed is held by Alan Beith with a swing from the Conservatives

HOLD - St Ives is held by Andrew George with a swing from the Conservatives

LOSS - Matthew Green loses his Ludlow seat to the Conservatives

17.45: Some impressive results from later in the night that did not get reported in the rush -

Islington South and Finsbury - Bridget Fox achieves a swing of more than 12% from Labour, cutting their majority to less than 500

Leicester South - despite a spectacular swing of 14% since the 2001 election, Parmjit Singh Gill fails to hold on to last year's by-election gain

Liverpool Wavertree - Colin Eldridge achieves a swing of nearly 12% from Labour

06.30: GAIN - Lib Dems gain Cambridge. New MP - David Howarth.

06.15: Lib Dem holds update (all not previously mentioned) -

HOLD - Matthew Taylor holds Truro and St Austell with a 7,000 majority

HOLD - Evan Harris holds Oxford West and Abingdon, again with a 7,000 majority

HOLD - Don Rogerson holds Paul Tyler's old seat of Cornwall North with a 3,000 majority

HOLD - Roger Williams holds Brecon and Radnorshire with a 4% swing from the Conservaties

HOLD - Sandra Gidley holds on in Romsey by just 125 votes

HOLD - Tom Brake holds Carshalton and Wallington with a majority of just over 1,000

HOLD - Alistair Carmichael wins Orkney and Shetland with more than three times the vote of the second placed candidate.

HOLD - Edward Davey holds Kingston and Surbiton with a majority of around 9,000

6.15am LOSS - Devon West and Torridge, John Burnett's seat until he stood down before the election, has been lost to the Conservatives

6.00am GAIN - Julia Goldsworthy gains Falmouth and Camborne for the Lib Dems from third place

04.50 HOLD - Norman Lamb holds North Norfolk with a majority of more than 10,000

04.47 GAIN - Lib Dems gain Westmorland and Lonsdale - Tim Farron takes Tim Collins' seat.

04.45 HOLD - Susan Kramer wins Richmond Park with a majority of just over 3,700, taking over from Jenny Tonge

04.43 HOLD - Colin Breed holds Cornwall South East with an increased majority of more than 6,500

04.40 HOLD - Simon Hughes holds Southwark North and Bermondsey with a majority of 5,400

04.37 HOLD - Michael Moore holds Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk with a majority of nearly 6,000

04.32 HOLD - Vincent Cable holds Twickenham with an increased majority of nearly 10,000

04.28 HOLD - Bob Russell holds Colchester with an increased majority

04.27 HOLD - Mark Oaten holds Winchester

04.26 HOLD - Lewes held by Norman Baker (declared about half three) with 8,000 majority

04.23 HOLD - Eastleigh - Chris Huhne succeeds David Chidgey with a majority of 568 (declared about an hour earlier)

04.21: HOLD - Nick Harvey holds Devon North

04.20: New seconds in Sevenoaks, Glasgow South, Suffolk South, Witney, Hackney North and Stoke Newington (11% swing from Labour), Epsom and Ewell, Bolsover, Greenwich and Woolwich, Chelmsford West, Gainsborough.

04.12 GAIN - Sarah Teather wins the Brent East seat she won at a by-election (technically a gain measured from 2001) with a swing of 30% and a majority of 2,700

04.10 GAIN - Lorely Burt gains Solihull for Lib Dems from the Conservatives on a 10% swing.

04.00 Some more we missed earlier - Labour's majority cut to just 405 in Edinburgh South; vote share up by 11% in Luton South; Lab to Lib Dem swing of nearly 13% in Watford, cutting Labour's majority to just over 1,000; Tory majority halved in Eastbourne.

03.50 7% swing against Charles Clarke in Norwich South as Lib Dems move into second place and now need a swing of less than 5% to win

03.48 More new second places as we process the results - Lewisham Deptford, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Brent South (12% swing from Labour), Hampshire North West, Lewisham West (8% swing), Newport East (10% swing), Leyton and Wanstead (11% swing).

03.38 GAIN - Lib Dems gain Taunton from Conservatives. New MP - Jeremy Browne.

03.30 GAIN - Lib Dems gain Bristol West. New MP - Stephen Williams. Majority of more than 5,000.

03.28 Miscellaneous impressive results - swing of nearly 8% from Labour in Bristol South and into second place; swing of nearly 12% in Oxford East, cutting Labour's majority from over 10,000 to under 1,000; 11%+ swing from Labour and into 2nd place in Hartlepool; into second in Tottenham, Reigate, Pontypridd and Huddersfield.

03.25 GAIN - Danny Alexander gains Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey from Labour with a 4,000 majority on a 6% swing.

03.22 HOLD - Charles Kennedy holds his Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat with an increase of 14% in vote share and a 10% swing from Labour

03.09 LOSS - Sue Doughty loses her Guildford seat to the Conservatives on a swing of less than 1%

03.08 GAIN - Greg Mulholland has gained Leeds North West from Labour on a swing of nearly 10%. The Lib Dems came third in this seat in 2001.

03.08 HOLD - Richard Younger-Ross doubles his majority in Teignbridge to more than 6,000

03.06 LOSS - Brian Cotter loses his Weston-super-Mare seat to the Conservatives

03.06 HOLD - David Heath holds Somerton and Frome with slightly increased majority

02.59 HOLD - Lembit Opik holds Montgomery with increased majority of over 7,000

02.54 HOLD - John Thurso holds Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ros with over half of all votes cast

02.53 LOSS - Sadly, Parmjit Singh Gill does not hold his by-election gain, but there is still a swing of more than 14% from Lab to Lib Dem since the 2001 election

02.50 HOLD - Martin Horwood holds Cheltenham, replacing Nigel Jones as MP with a majority of 2,300

02.49 HOLD - Robert Smith increases his majority to more than 7,000

02.49 HOLD - Paul Keetch holds Hereford with a majority of 962

02.44 GAIN - Paul Rowen gains Rochdale from Labour with a swing of more than 7%

02.42 HOLD - John Barrett holds Edinburgh West with a hugely increased majority - more than 13,000

02.33 HOLD - Phil Willis holds Harrogate and Knaresborough with an increased majority of more than 10,000

02.29 GAIN - John Leach gains Manchester Withington from Labour with a 17% swing and a majority of 667

02.25 GAIN - John Hemming gains Birmingham Yardley with a swing of nearly 9% from Labour, and a majority of 2,600

02.23 HOLD - Mid Dorset and North Poole - Annette Brooke retains her seat with a 5,000 majority and a 5% swing from the Tories

02.20 HOLD - David Laws holds Yeovil with a majority more than doubled to over 8,000

02.20 More catch-up news from the last hour - impressive results in Yorkshire with 9% swings from Lab to Lib Dems in Sheffield Central and Bradford North (overtaking the Tories in the latter); 12% swing to Lib Dems from Labour in Walthamstow (again overtaking the Tories). New seconds in Birkenhead and Stoke-on-Trent Central. Swing of nearly 11% from Lab in Islington North.

02.15 HOLD - Paul Burstow holds Sutton and Cheam

02.15 GAIN - Mark Williams gains Ceredigion from Plaid Cyrmu with a majority of just 219

02.12 HOLD - Nick Clegg holds Sheffield Hallam for the party, taking over from Richard Allan with a majority of more than 8,000

02.08 GAIN - Jenny Willott gains Cardiff Central from Labour with a majority of 5,500

02.07 HOLD - Paul Holmes increases his majority to over 3,000 in Chesterfield

02.01 HOLD - Malcolm Bruce holds Gordon with majority of more than 11,000

02.00 Some useful results we missed earlier - a new second in Wrexham with a swing of nearly 7%. Up more than 9% in Pendle. Swing of 11% from Labour to Lib Dems in Holborn and St Pancras, cutting Frank Dobson's majority to less than 5,000. New seconds in Leeds East and Southend West.

01.54 GAIN - Lynne Featherstone gains Hornsey and Wood Green from Labour with a swing of nearly 15% and a majority of over 2,000

01.52 GAIN - Jo Swinson gains Dunbartonshire East from Labour with a 4,000 majority

01.50 HOLD - Andrew Stunell holds Hazel Grove with a majority of nearly 8,000

01.48 Vicki Harris cuts Labour's majority by two thirds in Aberdeen South

01.44 HOLD - Mike Hancock holds Portsmouth South

01.41 HOLD - Steve Webb holds Northavon with an increased majority

01.40 HOLD - Don Foster holds Bath

01.33 HOLD - Patsy Calton holds Cheadle

01.30 LOSS - David Rendel loses Newbury to the Conservatives

01.21 Lib Dem vote share goes up 12% in Jack Straw's Blackburn seat. New seconds in Sheffield Attercliffe, Leeds West and a host of othes.

01.15 More new second places for Lib Dems - Aberavon, Leeds Central, Easington, Durham North West.

01.09 HOLD - Adrian Sanders holds Torbay

01.00 Lib Dems have moved into second place in Midlothian and Dunfermline and Fife West (both moving ahead of the SNP), Sheffield Brightside, Redcar, Middlesbrough, South Shields and Newcastle upon Tyne North (all at the expense of the Tories). In the latter Lib Dems get an 11% swing from Labour.

00.51 HOLD - John Pugh holds Southport with an increased majority

00.50 HOLD - Menzies Campbell holds Fife North East with an increased majority and over half of all votes cast

00.48 Lib Dems go from 4th to 2nd in Lanark and Hamilton East, overtaking Tories and SNP.

00.45 Lib Dems gain a swing of more than 11% from Labour in Newcastle upon Tyne Central - Greg Stone cuts Labour's majority from 11,600 to less than 4,000. Lib Dems also move into second place with a 9% swing in Tyne Bridge.

00.40: Lib Dems take second place in Rotherham with a swing of nearly 9% from Labour. Lib Dems have also moved into second place in Hull West and Hessle.

00.01: Lib Dems overtake the SNP to take second place in Rutherglen and Hamilton West (NB. This is based on notional result from last time, as all Scottish results will be, as there have been boundary changes.)

23.30: Lib Dems overtake the Tories to take second place in Houghton and Washington East with a 7% swing from Labour in third seat to declare

23.15: Lib Dems up 3% in second seat to declare - Sunderland North

22.45: Lib Dems up 3% in first seat to declare - Sunderland South

22.30: Lib Dem Chief Executive Lord Rennard says: "If the exit poll is correct three out of four people switching away from Labour since 2001 have gone to the Liberal Democrats."

22.00: BBC exit poll predicts Lib Dems 22% (up 3%), Labour 37% (-5) and Conservatives 32% (no change on 2001).