Time to deliver

But millions of voters took the shine off Labour's victory by staying away from the polls.

Although Mr Blair was given his expected second term, widespread apathy undermined the Government's achievement - and the message was clear: "It is time for Labour to deliver."

But for William Hague it was a night of personal humiliation and the likelihood that he would be forced to consider his position.

Senior party figures urged him to hang on, but the Tory leader - who pledged to take personal responsibility for the result - was not saying if he would stay or go.

But as the night wore on, and the true scale of the Conservative rout became clear, it seemed more and more likely that he may be forced to step aside.

Early results confirmed that Mr Blair was heading back to Downing Street for an unprecedented second full term with the only question being whether his majority would be smaller or larger than the 1997 figure of 179.

After being returned as MP for Sedgefield, with a majority down from 25,000 to 17,700, Mr Blair said: "I would like to thank the British people - there is no greater honour than to serve you as Prime Minister. You have given us an historic moment for the Labour Party.

"We are on the verge of a second successive full term of office - that's an extraordinary thing.

"We always knew to complete the work we had begun would take more than one term of office.

"A lot has been done but there is a lot still to do."

But there was concern in Labour ranks that millions of bored Britons decided to snub the election.

There were growing fears last night that the country was heading for the lowest turnout since 1918. Early indications were that only about 60 per cent of people had bothered to turn out - down more than ten per cent on 1997.

Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke summed up the mood when he said: "Many people have made a positive decision that they are not going to vote for any of the parties."

Labour MP Chris Mullin, whose Sunderland South constituency was the first to declare at 10.43pm, said: "I am very disappointed about the turnout. I think it reflects what is going to be a problem in this country in the age of multi-media.

"Elections are now about small elites of politicians touring the country in battle buses pursued by a small number of journalists."

With millions of votes already counted it seemed as though Labour would end up with about 43 per cent of the vote with the Conservatives on 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 19 per cent.

That would translate to 412 seats for Labour, 161 for the Tories and 57 for the Lib Dems.

The Liberal Democrats were looking at their best result since the First World War.

For those who did vote Mr Blair's decision to campaign on schools and hospitals had struck a chord with more people than the Tories' anti-Euro message.

Despite his historic victory the Prime Minister will have been left in no doubt that millions of electors are now expecting his Government to deliver.

Labour politicians appealed to the voters to give them a second term to complete the job they promised to do four years ago.

Last night's vote gives the party another five years to provide more doctors, nurses and equipment for the NHS, extra teachers to cut class sizes, more police to crack down on crime and an improved transport system.

Mr Blair watched the early results with his family in their constituency home in Trimdon, County Durham, before going on to his count in nearby Newton Aycliffe.

He was due to make what will amount to a victory speech to bouyant supporters at his local Labour club in the early hours.

The Prime Minister was expected to return to London at dawn, to thank party workers before heading back to No 10 to re-shape his Cabinet team.

Mr Hague was said to be watching the count at home although party workers were hinting he may join the crowds at the count at the Hambleton Leisure Centre in Northallerton in the early hours when the Richmond result was expected.

There was a shaking of heads at the Romanby Golf and Country club where Tory leaders from the Richmond constituency gathered to watch the drama unfold on a giant TV screen.

Last night, Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Tebbit urged Mr Hague to stay on, whatever the outcome.

"I certainly don't think that he should walk away from it either now or tomorrow morning.

"The whole party needs to sit down and think about the election, think about the next election too. There's a very good chance the party will decide they would rather like to keep William."

Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe praised Mr Hague and the Tories' campaign, saying: "I think we fought an excellent campaign. I think we concentrated on issues which were very important issues.

"As far as I'm concerned, William has been an excellent leader."

But former Tory front bencher John Maples said that if the exit polls were right, it would be an "awful result" for the Tories, and he added: "Any result under 200 seats for the Tories would be very, very disappointing for us."

Early today, Health Secretary Alan Milburn held his Darlington seat with 22,479 votes. Tory candidate Tony Richmond was second with 12,095 while Lib Dem candidate Robert Adamson captured 4,358 votes.

Mr Milburn's majority was cut from 16,025 to 10,384. Turnout was down 11.9 per cent from 1997 to 62 per cent.

Get the full picture from the North-East here.