BRITAIN is heading into uncharted waters this evening with both main parties vowing to form a new Government.

With just a handful of results declared so far David Cameron's supporters have made it clear that they believe the Conservatives have triumphed.

But Labour insiders say Gordon Brown will try to seal an alliance with the Lib Dems in order to cling on to power.


Interview: Labour MP Bridget Phillipson.


Although Labour hasn't suffered any embarassing setbacks in the North-East, as yet, there has been a marked swing to the Conservatives.

An exit poll conducted shortly after voting finished at 10pm predicted the Tories would have 305 seats in the new House of Commons, with Labour on 255 seats and the Liberal Democrats on 61 MPs.

That would leave David Cameron 21 MPs short of the 326 he needs for an overall majority.

The projection means that Labour could cling to power if it manages to form a formal coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last night that he had a duty to help form a stable government. His speech did not concede defeat and appeared to leave the way open for a possible deal with Nick Clegg.

However, the Conservatives also made it clear that they would try to form a Government - even if the party fell slightly short of the 326 MPs they need.

Senior Tories said Mr Brown had lost the right to lead the Government and had a “morale obligation” to stand aside.

Fears of a hung Parliament sent jitters through the international money markets, already reeling from the Greek debt crisis.

Sterling fell more than a cent against the dollar as soon as the exit poll was known. Investors are worried that a weak government or a coalition would be unable to take the tough decisions needed to tackle the country’s horrendous deficit.

There was anger too after thousands of people were unable to cast their votes before the poll booths closed at 10pm.

Many voters were turned away – despite queuing for more than half an hour.

In York, hundreds of postal votes appeared to have gone missing and in Newcastle voters complained that they had been unable to vote before the polls closed.

In Chester, a marginal held by Labour, the Labour Party claimed more than 600 people were turned away because the list of registered voters had not been updated.

In the North-East Labour managed to cling on to most of its seats, albeit with much reduced majorities.

There was a 9.14 per cent swing from Labour to the Conservatives in Darlington, where Jenny Chapman will replace Alan Milburn in the new Parliament.

There were similar swings from Labour to Conservative in Sedgefield and Durham North. Labour also held all three Sunderland seats and the city now has three female MPs.