While another commentator says the now-leaderless Lib Dems face "existential" questions:

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The most important thing to take away from tonight so far is that the Tories are on course for a healthy majority - and that means the UK will leave the EU in the coming weeks.

Labour has lost a number of its heartland seats to the Conservatives, suggesting voters have bought Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” pitch.

Labour has had a dreadful night and Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will stand down -although it seems he wants to stay on for a while to help the party choose its direction.

We’ve had two massive scalps; the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson and the DUP’s Nigel Dodds have lost their seats.

In Scotland, the picture is rather different. The SNP are winning big - putting independence back on the agenda.

A number of commentators had called Laura Pidcock a future leader of the Labour Party.

But she has lost her seat of Durham North West to the Conservatives.

In 2017, her majority was over 8,000.

But in 2019, the Tory candidate, Richard Holden, won the vote by 1,144.

You can see the surprise from tonight's commentators below...

Their leader may have lost her seat but there is some good news for the Liberal Democrats.

They have gained St Albans from the Conservatives. A 6,000 majority for Anne Main becomes a 6,000 majority for Lib Dem Daisy Cooper.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson's voice cracks when she thanks her family - including her husband and two sons.

She says "some will be celebrating the wave of nationalism that is sweeping on both sides of the border" but adds "these results will bring dread and dismay."

"People are looking for hope," she says.

"I still believe that we as a country can be warm and generous, inclusive and open and that by working together with our nearest neighbours we can achieve so much more."

She says she will be making further comments later in the day - presumably on her future.

Sky News presenter Niall Paterson focuses on how well the SNP did to beat Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire...

While HuffPost's executive political editor points out it is no longer clear why the Liberal Democrats wanted an election at all:

Martha Kearney
Presenter, Today

Image source, Reuters

This really is an astonishing result for the SNP, being able to win a seat against a national party leader.

In fairness, it is a seat she has lost in the past.

And it is a mixed blessing being a party leader - you get the profile, but do you have the time to nurse your own constituency?

The latter has been the SNP's mainline of attack, calling her the "pop-up MP".

When she arrived at the count she brushed off questions whether she would resign.

To lose her own seat on top of what's been happening nationally must really be devastating for her.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Jo Swinson losing her seat in East Dunbartonshire is probably the biggest scalp of the night so far.

At the start of this campaign she said she was standing to be PM - but in truth the Lib Dems have had a tough election and were heavily criticised for saying they would cancel Brexit.

Both the Lib Dems and SNP had played down the prospect of this result in recent days.

But it also shows how well tonight has gone for the SNP who are picking up seats from all their rivals.

We have another update to our BBC forecast for the final seat numbers.

The Conservatives are now expected to get 365 seats - only three less than the exit poll.

Labour are set to win 196 seats - five more than the initial prediction.

And the SNP are down from 55 to 52 seats, if these forecasts prove correct.

Boris Johnson has held on to his seat with 25,351 votes with Labour's Ali Milani running second winning just over 18,000 votes.

And Lord Buckethead won 125 votes.

Image source, Reuters

There had been some doubt on whether Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would survive this election, despite going into the polls with a majority of over 23,000.

Some thought the Remain-backing constituency could be won by the Lib Dems.

But he has come out on top again, winning the seat of Esher and Walton with 31,132 votes but seeing his majority reduced to 2,743.

He says the result "gives us a chance to break the logjam and move this country forward".

He says the Conservatives want to "hold seats in the South but also make sure we can speak to some of those aspirational middle classes north of the M25".

Labour's Caroline Flint has been defeated by the Conservatives in Don Valley - a seat which has been Labour since 1922.

Ms Flint had voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Jeremy Corbyn struck a defiant note in his speech there, saying the policies in his manifesto were popular and blaming Brexit for Labour’s defeat.

It sounds like Mr Corbyn plans to stay on for a while to figure out the party’s future.

That means he wants to remain in the top job during the likely battle over Labour’s future direction.

But the Corbyn era will be over sooner or later.

Political correspondents give their immediate reactions to Mr Corbyn's speech, in which he said he wouldn't lead the party into any future elections but isn't quitting immediately.

Jeremy Corbyn says he will not lead his party into any future general election.

However, he says he will stay on while a period of "reflection" and discussion takes place