This is the exit poll forecast with Tories 'just short of majority'

It's a hung parliament

This is the exit poll forecast with Tories 'just short of majority'

The first results from the UK General Election vote last night gave the Tories renewed hope that Oppositionu00a0 Conservative leader David Cameron could move into 10, Downing Street.

Why so serious? British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife
Sarah brave the drizzle as they head for the polling station in his
Scottish constituency yesterday. Pic/AP

The Tories scored their biggest swing against Labour in 80 years which, if repeated across the country, would give them an absolute majority.

Exit poll put the Conservatives on course to be 21 seats short of a Commons majority, meaning Britain faces a dangerous period of uncertainty.

God help this nation: Two Nuns leave a polling station after casting
their vote in London. Pic/Getty Images

The projected result did not bode well for Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister since 2007, and triggered widespread uncertainty over who will form the next government.

All exit polls have a small margin of error which could be significant in a tight election such as this one, in which the three main Westminster parties have been so close in the opinion polls. There could also be different voting patterns around the country.

Nevertheless,u00a0Cameron might find that winning one or two seats in Northern Ireland and forming a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party might be enough to give him a majority.

No poster boys here: Policeu00a0 remove protesters from the roof of a polling
station in Oxfordshirewhere British Oppositionu00a0Leader David Cameron
was due to vote. Pic/AFP

If the vote does not give any party a majority, that could produce a destabilising period of political wrangling. Brown could resign if he feels the results have signalled he has lost his mandate, or he could try to stay on as leader and seek a coalition with smaller parties.

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