-The Conservatives and the SNP are spectacular winners, with the Conservatives unexpectedly able to form a majority government for their second term

-The SNP won all but three seats in Scotland and its triumph marks a genuinely significant milestone in Scotland’s history, while threatening the future of the ‘United’ Kingdom in its present form

-Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP performed poorly and the leaders of all three parties have resigned today

-Two other losers must also be the voting system itself, which is already being vocally criticised once again for its perceived unfairness, and the pollsters, many of whom were badly caught out by the results

Seats in the House of Commons:

Conservative 331 (+ 24)

Labour 232 (- 26)

SNP 56 (+ 50)

Liberal Democrat 8 (- 48)

Others 23 (+ 2)

The local elections have hardly been mentioned in the national media over recent weeks, despite the fact over 9,000 council seats were contested in 279 English local authorities. Although these results have been much slower to emerge, the picture of unexpected Conservative gains looks as though it is being repeated.

Conservative

-Against expectations, David Cameron will continue as Prime Minister with an overall majority – a huge endorsement of his leadership, the Conservative General Election campaign and the Conservative Manifesto

-Nevertheless, the slender majority may be too close for comfort for the party (the election of London Mayor Boris Johnson – widely tipped as the next Conservative leader – in Uxbridge & Ruislip South, may also mean he is too close for comfort for the Prime Minister)

-An additional challenge will be to retain the confidence of the business community. Stability provided by avoiding a coalition is one thing but with a referendum on EU membership (now set to take place in 2017) and Scottish independence and/or further devolution due to receive renewed attention, there is ample scope for uncertainty ahead

-The Conservatives will be keener than ever to own the centre ground. In the words of the Prime Minister, “In short, I want my party… to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost – the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom.”

Labour

-Any hope the polls gave Labour in recent weeks proved false and the result was a bitter blow for the party and for Ed Miliband personally, who has now resigned, with no obvious successor

-Labour were beaten by the left in Scotland and by the right in England. The party’s new Leader will face an extremely difficult road ahead

-Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls lost his seat and, as part of Labour’s humiliation in Scotland, election campaign boss Douglas Alexander and the party’s leader in Scotland, Jim Murphy, both lost their seats

The SNP

-The SNP’s success is perhaps best described as ‘a landslide’, with the party winning 56 of 59 seats in Scotland, compared to just six seats in 2010 (Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats won one seat each)

-Alex Salmond’s ‘Scottish Lion’ may have roared but the SNP will not hold the balance of power at Westminster in light of the Conservative’s majority, something that will have surprised and disappointed the party

Others

-The Liberal Democrats had a disastrous General Election. As well as now having just eight MPs and no leader, significant figures to lose their seats included Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Energy Secretary Ed Davey

-UKIP failed to meet expectations and now has just one seat, despite winning the support of over 10 per cent of voters (with about half this support the SNP has won 56 seats) and Nigel Farage’s resignation is a huge blow to supporters

-Similarly, the Green’s support among voters nationwide has not been reflected in House of Commons seats and the party again has just one MP

Redwood will follow the next steps of the new government closely.