Liberal Democrats face prospect of being reduced to 'single figures' following 'devastating' results

Early results and exit polls suggest Clegg's leadership is to come under pressure

James Rush,Adam Lusher

Friday 08 May 2015 10:08 BST

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez leave after winning his Sheffield Hallam seat in Britain's general election in Sheffield (Lynne Cameron/AP)

Nick Clegg is facing the prospect of the Liberal Democrats being reduced to just single figures in the Commons, with the party possibly losing dozes of seats, including a number of high profile casualties.

Results throughout the morning have suggested Clegg's leadership is to come under pressure as voters swing to the Conservatives in England and SNP in Scotland.

Business secretary Vince Cable became the highest-profile scalp as after five years of coalition government with the Tories, voters deserted the party.

Energy Secretay Ed Davey also lost his Kingston and Surbiton constituency to the Conservatives., while sources at the count in Inverness have confirmed to The Independent that Cabinet minister Danny Alexander has accepted he has lost his seat to the SNP.

Lib Dem business minister Jo Swinson lost the East Dunbartonshire seat she had held since 2006 to the SNP, while former Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes lost his seat to Labour.

An exit poll suggested the party could be reduced to ten seats, but party sources indicated to PA that figure could be optimistic.

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

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1/16The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Ed Balls

Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. His defeat in compounded Labour's woes in a dismal night, which saw the party lose all but one of its Scottish MPs and will undoubtedly lead to Ed Miliband standing down.

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Nigel Farage

OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet. But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags. He began by railing against the editors of the The Sun and the Daily Mail, sarcastically calling them “geniuses”. But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”. “Never felt happier,” in fact. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. Quite right too, old boy. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five.

AFP/Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Vince Cable

A huge scalp for the Conservatives, even though he was part of their coalition government. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Jim Murphy

A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, lost his Renfrewshire East to the SNP, having held the seat since 2005. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Danny Alexander

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Esther McVey

The Minister of State for Employment and one of the few women in David Cameron’s male-dominate cabinet, Esther McVey had only held Wirral West since 2010. Her 2,436 majority was overturned and Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the seat with a 417 majority.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

George Galloway

The former Labour MP had held the seat of Bradford West since 2012 for the Respect Party. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010.

Nigel Roddis | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Charles Kennedy

Another huge Lib Dem scalp, with the SNP taking the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber from the former leader of the party. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He had been an MP since 1983.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Douglas Alexander

The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes held a key Liberal Democrat seat in London, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which he held from 1983. Hughes is a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems and had been minister of state at the Ministry of Justice since 2013. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election.

Rob Stothard | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Mark Reckless

An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party.

Carl Court | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Margaret Curran

Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan).

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

David Laws

A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He had briefly been Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 2010 election, only holding the office for 17 days after resigning due to the disclosure of his Parliamentary expenses claims. Laws was a key negotiator for the Lib Dems when the coalition was being formed five years ago.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Jo Swinson

On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson.

Matthew Lloyd | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Ed Davey

The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. Davey championed the Lib Dems' role in ensuring the Conservative-led Coalition championed the green agenda. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development.

Dan Kitwood | Getty Images

A source said: "The exit poll is accurate. It may be even worse than that."

Speaking at Mr Clegg's count in Sheffield, a spokesman for the party admitted the Lib Dems were facing a difficult night.

The spokesman said: "I'm not going to pretend the Liberal Democrats are going to have anything other than a bad night."

Referring with grim irony to "these joyous circumstances," he added: "Clearly anybody who is a Liberal Democrat – and that includes the leader of our party – anybody who believes in moderate centre ground politics will be disappointed, because the voices of the extremes appear to be having a better night."

Asked to provide a prediction about whether Mr Clegg would hold on to his own Sheffield Hallam seat, the source would only say: "I haven’t got the numbers to do that at this stage. I am confident, but not complacent."

Challenged about earlier Lib Dem optimism, he insisted that his party members weren't the only ones who appeared to have been wrong in their predictions about what would happen on election night.

"Lots of people were wrong in the run-up to this election. Look at every single pollster in the country. Did any single pollster predict what we would see in the exit polls tonight? Did Sky? Did the BBC?"

Refusing to admit defeat completely, he added: "Clearly these [exit polls] are at the lower end of what we expected and hoped, but let’s see if they are borne out by the facts."

Perhaps anticipating the recriminations and blame game to come, the source said: "It seems that in the latter part of the campaign particularly, the Conservatives - with their money, their backing, and their fear factor over the Scottish Nationalists potentially holding the balance of power – it looks like that message has worked."

Additional reporting by PA

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