The UK general election in five charts

The Conservative party looks set to form the next government with its seat total rapidly approaching the 326 needed for a majority.

Even if it falls short it will not be by much and the party should be able to form either a coalition or a minority government. The 36.3 per cent of the vote the Tories secured at the time of writing, was enough to secure 49.1 per cent of the seats.

However the first-past-the-post electoral system left more minor parties squeezed out: the UK Independence party secured 12.6 per cent of all votes but has only won a single constituency.

Voters turned away from the Liberal Democrats. The party saw a 15.24 percentage point drop in its share of the national vote while Ukip and the Scottish National party surged with a 9.2 percentage point and 3.77 percentage point increase respectively.

Labour may have secured some of the 2010 Lib Dem voters but by losing many of its supporters to new insurgent parties the party was unable to win many seats.

According to the BBC, the 2015 general election is looking like the Tory's best result since 1992 and could yet become their first majority since John Major.

In a long-term context the Lib Dem collapse is even more shocking, this was the lowest share of the vote it has received since 1970.

A greater proportion of the vote went to minor parties than ever before, even if the Conservatives and Labour still dominate the House of Commons.

Labour's big problem was that it only performed well in London and parts of Yorkshire. It failed to convince many voters in the Midlands where the key marginal constituencies are located and saw virtually no improvement in the south in London.

At the same time it saw a huge collapse in Scotland. Labour was handicapped in this election by its apparent trouble in appealing to working class voters in its post-industrial heartland.

The polls were dramatically wrong; with many released on the day pointing to a dead heat between Labour and the Conservatives while it looked as though the Tories will win by about 6 percentage points.

We may never know exactly why this happened but many commentators ascribed it to a "shy Tory" effect, with voters unwilling to admit that they support the Conservatives but are happy to actually cast their vote for the party.

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