Anticipation peaks ahead of general election results

The results are expected to result in one of the most divided Parliaments, with a Labour collapse and LPUK surge widely predicted, and could usher in either a Conservative or Liberal Democrat led Government.

These nine party leaders, plus those of smaller parties, are waiting to hear the verdict of the British electorate.

From top left to bottom right: Leafy_Emerald (Con), ElliottC99 (Lab), TheNoHeart (Lib Dem), CDocwra (CLib), Friedmanite (LPUK), britboy3456 (NUP), DF44 (Grn), daringphilosopher (SNP), ViktorHR (PC)

Votes cast across the United Kingdom on Friday in the general election are to be counted this afternoon and revealed later this evening, with the first result expected just after 7.30. The election campaign concluded on Thursday night after five days of frenetic activity in the 50 constituencies that make up half the seats in the House of Commons, and which will be critical in choosing the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.



The election is expected to return the Conservatives as the largest party in the House of Commons, whilst the Labour Party, who are currently the main party of Official Opposition, is forecast to have a nightmare, potentially losing scores of seats. Some predictions have suggested that they could collapse from 22 seats at the last election to single figures, which would be devastating for them.



Though this a possibility that Labour is keen to play down, with Deputy Leader Imperator_Pastollini conceding to the Guardian that “while its true that we could fall to just 4 constituency seats, maybe even less – I am confident that once we add up the totals, Labour will remain in the double digits in terms of the number of seats”. The Conservatives meanwhile remain confident, with cabinet minister Comped stating: “Personally I expect us to maintain our status as the largest party in Parliament, but elections are always surprising things.”



It has been widely suggested that the Liberal Democrats, Classical Liberals, and Libertarian Party UK could have an extremely strong night, picking up any Tory or Labour losses to surge into a strong position. The LPUK have been particularly highlight. Many have touted the so-called Liberty Bloc as a potential Government, whilst others have suggested they could prop up a Conservative led Government. The NUP have also been picked out to make moderate gains, whilst the Greens are hoping to best previous foresights.



Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Estoban06, briefly spoke to the Guardian, telling us that “I’m very confident of a great result in this election. We’ve worked very hard over the last term, and also ran a truly excellent campaign, which was a credit to all of our candidates. I’m sure this will be well received on results night. As for expectations, I have no set figure – just that we will get a strong mandate from the people to serve them in government.”

The Classical Liberal Leader is confident ahead of tonight’s results, telling the Guardian that “I’m expecting strong gains both for the Classical Liberals and the fellow members of the Liberty Bloc once the results come in. The Classical Liberals have never lost seats in a general election and that’s a trend that we can say with an almost absolute certainty is going to continue this time around mostly at the expense of Labour in a few of our Clib-Labour marginals like Norfolk and Suffolk and Essex.”



Speaking of their hopes, LPUK Deputy Leader cthuluiscool, told the Guardian “I could feel the Libertarian campaign building in momentum every day of the campaign, I think our campaign was excellent and I expect we’ll threaten several constituency seats. There is a cautious but excited atmosphere in party headquarters and we’re hoping to cause an upset.”



Senior NUP figure, R_Temple, was more cuoi about his own party’s chances, stating “Smaller parties, I believe, have the most to gain this election, being able to take use of the collapse of the traditionally large parties. This also means those traditionally large parties are now fighting tooth and nail, hand over fist, to defend their seats and stop a total collapse, but time will tell how that goes!” But he did make a final pitch ahead of the results, stating: “I think it’s best for the whole country, up and down, to unite together. This election may define how we treat one another; with compassion, respect, understanding, or with disdain and disappointment. I know, for certain, I prefer the former.”



When asked about the scandals that have plagued NUP candidates, Mr Temple said “I think it will definitely have an impact, to deny that would be silly I feel. It is absolutely true the NUP has had some unfortunate scandals as a result of candidates not always being on the same wavelength as the rest of the Party. I do feel, though, that the swiftness and speed of which these issues were dealt with by the Party Leadership will help smooth any stings. What’s most important is that National Unionism hasn’t been slowed down by these scandals or capped.”



Green candidate for East London and Shadow Cabinet member effi2002 had clear expectations in mind, telling our reporter “I believe this election was quite different from the previous ones as a lot of big things happened before it, such asthe breakup of Labour-Tory coalition, and I think that broke off the status quo a bit. If you told me a few months ago that the LPUK would have such a momentum on the elections as they did now, there’s no chance I’d believe it. And this is true to a lot of other things. So I think this election was and will be very exciting There’s a chance even that the Tories will lose the government after so many terms. Regarding Greens performance, I think we did the best we could. Personally I expect 3 FPTP seats, 4 if we’re lucky, and a few list seats too.So it’s possible we’ll keep our 8 seats in the Commons, and I think that’s great after a rough term for us.”



The Guardian will be hosting an election night broadcast with our friends at the New Statesman from 7.30 this evening. If you wish to appear as a guest on this show, then please get in touch as soon as possible. Otherwise, we hope you will join us and watch as the results come rolling in, and we find out what the new Parliament might look like. You can see more of our GEX coverage here and here, and you can be sure we will bring you all the big developments as they happen.