Hanging on!

Photo: Darren Robinson

SCRAPED HOME . . . Labour’s Phil Woolas defeated his Lib-Dem rival Elywn Watkins after two recounts

RICHARD HOOTON, KAREN DOHERTY, JANICE BARKER & MIKE ATTENBOROUGH
ELECTION 2010

Voters deliver a hung parliament

Woolas survives after night of high drama

Meacher and Heyes keep seats

All the council results in . . . click here

BRITAIN woke today to its first hung parliament since 1974 with the Conservatives just short of an overall majority.

Gordon Brown returned to 10 Downing Street without any clear indication of whether he will be able to remain as Prime Minister but seemingly ready to seek a coalition deal with the Lib-Dems to cling on to power.

Labour stalwart Michael Meacher secured an 11th election victory in Oldham West and Royton with only a minor dent to his majority. Oldham’s longest-serving MP was delighted to retain the seat he has made his own since he was first elected in 1970, seeing off strong challenges from Conservative Kamran Ghafoor and Lib-Dem Mark Alcock.

But in Oldham East and Saddleworth it was nail-bitingly close, with Labour’s Immigration Minister Phil Woolas defeating Lib-Dem rival Elwyn Watkins by 103 votes after a second recount.

Conservative leader David Cameron insisted Labour had “lost its mandate to govern our country” as his party raced ahead. The Conservatives were on target to gain more seats in this ballot than in any General Election for 80 years.

Senior Tory Michael Gove said Mr Cameron is “happy to talk” with other parties to ensure Britain gets a “strong and stable” Conservative–led government.

The shadow schools secretary stressed it was for his leader to decide who he should talk to, but did not rule out talks with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.

But Mr Brown insisted: “My duty in all of this is that there be a stable, strong and principled government and to play my part in making that possible.

“I think it is too early to say what the verdict of the people is but it is pretty clear that what the people will want at the end of this election is a government that is strong, stable and principled.”

Labour election supremo Lord Mandelson insisted: “The rules are that, if it’s a hung Parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go – it’s the sitting Government.”

The Liberal Democrats had a disappointing night, with no sign of the so–called “Cleggmania” prompted by the TV debates being translated into votes or seats.

Deflated leader Nick Clegg acknowledged: “We simply didn’t achieve what we hoped.”

Mr Clegg gave no indication of which party he would seek to talk to first in the wake of the inconclusive result, cautioning other leaders against “rushing into making claims or taking decisions” which did not stand the test of time.

He urged everyone involved to “take a little time” to ensure people got the government they deserved during these “difficult times”.

It was a chaotic night started by angry scenes in Manchester, London and Sheffield when people were unable to vote after polling stations couldn’t cope with long queues. The Electoral Commission will hold an inquiry and some results may be challenged.

In Oldham, counting didn’t start until 3.45am after it took nearly six hours to separate the general and local election ballot papers. A first recount was called in Oldham East and Saddleworth at 5.45am and the Oldham West and Royton result came in at 6am.

The biggest scalp was former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who lost her Redditch seat to the Conservatives while former Chadderton barrister Vera Baird, the solicitor general under Gordon Brown, lost her Redcar seat after a massive 21 per cent swing to the Lib Dems.

The Greens gained their first MP at Westminster with party leader Caroline Lucas in at Brighton Pavillion.



HOW YOU VOTED


OLDHAM EAST and SADDLEWORTH

* Phil Woolas (LAB) 14,186

Elwyn Watkins (LIB-DEM) 14,083

Kashif Ali (CON) 11,773

David Bentley (UKIP) 1,720

Gulzar Nazir (Christian Party) 212

Alwyn Stott (BNP) 2,546

Majority: 103

Turnout: 61.6 per cent

2005: Phil Woolas (Lab) 17,968, Tony Dawson (Lib-Dem) 14,378, Keith Chapman (Con) 7,901, Michael Treacy (BNP) 2,109, Valerie Nield (UKIP) 873, Philip O’Grady (Ind) 138. Majority: 3,590. Turnout: 57.5 per cent


OLDHAM WEST AND ROYTON

* Michael Meacher (LAB) 19,503

Kamran Ghafoor (CON) 10,151

Mark Alcock (LIB-DEM) 8,193

David Joines (BNP) 3,049

Helen Roberts (UKIP) 1,387

Shahid Miah (Respect) 627

Majority: 9,352 Turnout: 59.7 per cent

2005: Michael Meacher (Lab) 18,457, Sean Moore (Con) 7,998, Stuart Bodsworth (Lib-Dem) 7,519, Anita Corbett (BNP) 2,606, David Short (UKIP) 987. Majority: 10,459 Turnout: 53.5 per cent


ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE

* David Heyes (LAB) 18,604

Seema Kennedy (CON) 9,510

Paul Larkin (LIB-DEM) 5,703

David Lomas (BNP) 2,929

Angela McManus (UKIP) 1,686

Majority: 9,094

Turnout: 57.0 per cent

2005: David Heyes (Lab) 21,211, Graeme Brown (Con) 7,259, Les Jones (Lib-Dem) 5,108, Anthony Jones (BNP) 2,051, John Whittaker (UKIP) 768, Jack Crossfield (Local) 570. Majority: 13,952. Turnout: 51.3 per cent

:: Click here for the local results