Conservatives defy polls to win overall majority
PRIME Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives won a surprise and decisive victory in Britain’s general election yesterday, which redrew the political map and could redefine the country’s future in Europe.
Pre-election forecasts of a close contest with the opposition Labour party turned out to be wide of the mark, after Cameron won a majority in the House of Commons and five more years in Downing Street.
In a dramatic night of results, the nationalists won a historic landslide in Scotland and the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the anti-EU UKIP all stepped down after suffering major losses.
Cameron paid a visit to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, where he was expected to be reconfirmed as premier and asked to form a new government.
Cameron promised to keep his pledge to hold a referendum on membership of the European Union by 2017, raising the prospect that it could leave the bloc.
Labour, led by Ed Miliband, was almost wiped out in Scotland, dropping from 41 seats five years ago to just one this time around.
The Liberal Democrats, lost all but eight of the 57 seats they won five years ago.
Their leader Nick Clegg also resigned.
The UK Independence Party lost one of its two seats in the House of Commons and leader Nigel Farage has resigned after failing in his seventh attempt to be elected as an MP. — AFP