Hughes: Lib Dems still 'relevant'published at 17:31 British Summer Time 8 May 2015
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Conservatives have Commons majority of 12
David Cameron promises his party will 'govern as a party of one nation'
Ed Miliband quits as Labour leader. Ed Balls loses seat
Labour crushed in Scotland, with SNP winning 56 of 59 seats
Lib Dems routed, big names ousted - Clegg holds seat but resigns as leader
UKIP gets 13% of vote but Nigel Farage quits as leader after missing out on seat
Sam Francis, Angela Harrison and Georgina Pattinson
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Here's how the country looks with all 650 seats declared. Full results by constituency are available here.
Text: 61124
Mike, Woking:
Unhappy that identity security is so lax at the polling stations. Both my housemate and I were unable to vote, as other people had voted in our name beforehand. Surely ID should be required at polling stations - I've lost my faith in the process!
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A selection of your emails:
Leanne, Bury: I didn't receive my postal vote and was told I was unable to vote at a polling station therefore I feel I was robbed of my right to vote!
Speaking to some friends about my frustration I found this hasn't only happened to myself but to others also. If this has happened to a few in my small circle of friends I wonder to how many it has happened to within the whole UK?!
Jackie, Andover: So, we've voted for a Conservative majority. I'm lucky enough to have had a good education, to have a stable family, to have given birth to healthy intelligent children, to be in work and to live in my own house. No doubt as a result of the vote, my European holiday has just got a bit cheaper and our savings for our children's education have gone up slightly in value. But I find it harder to smile knowing that the gulf will continue to grow between the rich and poor, those in stable families and those not, the sick and the healthy, the strong and the vulnerable. If things go wrong, I shan't waste my time writing to my new MP who will be busy in London running his accountancy firm. I shall set up a direct debit to our local food bank, and perhaps I'd better save a bit more to help anyone I love who falls on hard times, because I have less confidence today that society will care.
Paul, London: In answer to "David Corbett - Expat living in Switzerland" (15.09), the explanation to your wife is simple. We don't hold Presidential style elections where the whole country votes in a single contest. When a voter walks into a booth they put a X next to the person they want to send to Parliament. 650 contests for 650 seats. Total UK-wide votes have no bearing on the matter. It's about time that the Greens and UKIP stopped moaning about vote share and recognised that they weren't good enough/wanted in 649 of those contests. 331 Conservative candidates were!!
Nigel Ford: Pleased the British public came to it's senses and avoided some kind of Labour minority government under pinned by the SNP. No doubt leading to another election within 12 months. The Labour Party had two big problems Ed Balls and Ed Miliband who were both linked with the over spending previous Labour government and a poor economic record.
This is a chance for change in the party, may be with the right brother, may be with Yvette Cooper hopefully not influenced by her husband.
I do feel for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. Think they did a decent job and could not afford to keep the tuition fee pledge due to lack of funds and the deficit, thanks to Labour.
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Your comments
edharry comments on this story: The Conservatives have a small working majority yet 63% of those who voted didn't vote for them. Can we really keep the current voting system. 5 million voted either Green or UKIP but they only have 2 seats...
NJ comments It appears it's possible to be too successful. The Scots have of won a spectacular battle but lost the war. With a Tory majority they will have very little power. A Labour government would have given them far more of what they want. The fear of the Scottish tail wagging the English dog drove the English voters towards a Tory victory. Well done SNP.
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The latest selection of your emails:
Andrew: I’m pleased we have a majority government. A strong government makes for bold decisive action and the power to act without compromise. Ultimately, if they fail they will be voted out next time around. My main concern has been the maximum coverage with minimal content provided by the main media channels during the run up to the election. How anyone can ‘debate’ in 40 seconds is beyond me. I don’t want our political leaders to be selected for their sound bites.
John Bradley, Halifax: It's a sad day for Britain, the result of the vote reflects society, people are greedy, selfish and money orientated and that is why they have voted in a Tory government. What about the most vulnerable members of society? The people that make the country tick, the nurses, teachers, police and fire service, all things that contribute to a fair and stable society.
David Corbett - Ex-pat living in Switzerland: I see people complaining about the political system. My wife is Dutch and has never considered our system fair. It is not easy to convince her when you look at the cold facts. The SNP have 4.7% of the vote and 56 seats. UKIP have 12.6% of the vote and 1 seat. In total the Tories have 37% of the vote. That amounts to about 25% of the total electorate and they have an absolute majority. If anyone out there has an idea how I can explain to my wife that this is democracy, I would be very happy.
Kevin Pakenham: Norman Smith writes: “The left-of-centre, traditional agenda set out by Ed Miliband would appear to have been decisively rejected.” When will the BBC recalibrate its analysis of where the centre lies? The electorate saw clearly that Ed Miliband stands on the left, as the candidate of the trades unions and old Labour. He is not left-of-centre. They rejected him accordingly.
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LB:
Ed Miliband tried his best but we all know it was the wrong brother who was chosen by the trade unions. His brother should now get the party back into shape + on the right road.
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More of your emails:
Donal Hodgson: I don’t feel this is a good day for British Democracy, I don’t see how the current voting system can be considered democratic or representative of the Great British public's opinion. And the saddest thing is I can’t see it changing any time soon, it will never be in the interest of the Conservative party to help change it. Very sad.
James Helmore: Completely disagree with the sentiment that "this is a bad day for democracy". This election day has passed with little controversy, zero claims of corruption or vote fiddling and no violence. Compare that to election days in other countries around the world and indeed compare that to countries who don't get a right to vote. The fact that your party has lost does not mean that democracy has failed.
Paul Molineux, Burton on Trent I don't why people are so surprised!!! It was always on the cards, the Lib Dems signed their own death warrant when they joined the coalition. It would have happened to any party. History tells all. The only thing that surprises me is that the majority wasn't bigger. Any country needs a strong government, something coalitions don't give, look at Israel, seven weeks to get one.
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Stephen, Belfast:
David Cameron continues. He talks about making Great Britain greater, what will he do for Northern Ireland? We are after all a part of the UK and the last quarter of the country without Marriage Equality. The DUP will always block progress at every turn in the Assembly. What if anything will our Prime Minister do to right this wrong? The LGBT community in Northern Ireland has been forgotten about.
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