–Updates, Recasts Version Transmitted At 0136 GMT
–Results Erratic; Conservatives Fail To Win Some Key Target Range Seats
–Political Leaders Highlight Uncertainty Of Outturn
–Exit Poll Showed Conservatives 21 Short Of Outright Majority

LONDON (MNI), May 7 – The Conservative Party has made some
surprising gains in the UK’s 2010 General Election, but has missed out
on a number of seats in the key target range it needs for victory.

The Conservatives have to secure 326 seats for an outright
majority, but focusing on seats in the low 300s range, in terms of swing
needed from 2005, they have failed to gain victory in several of them.
Against this backdrop, leading politicians are continuing to highlight
the uncertainty of the outcome.

The results in so far show the Conservatives have won 4 out of 12
seats in the 300 to 340 range, while failing to win some seats way below
this range and winning a handful way above it.

Political pundits, while still expressing caution, believe the most
likely outcome is the Conservatives falling a little short of an overall
majority, but it could still be very close.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s environment minister, said the people had
spoken, but it was not clear what they had said.

“It’s a picture which is still quite mixed” Alistair Darling,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, while Conservative leader David
Cameron said it could be hours, if not longer, before the outcome of the
election was clear.

With the results published in 444 seats out of 650, or 68% of the
total, the Conservatives were on 220, Labour on 162 and the Liberal
Democrats, who performed strongly in many pre-election polls, trailing
badly on 35.

Both sterling and gilts have pared earlier gains, when betting odds
suggested a Conservative majority was still very much a live option.

Controversial Exit Poll Showed No Overall Conservative Win

The joint exit poll for three UK television companies for the
2010 general election showed the Conservatives just missing out on an
overall majority and, despite the erratic nature of many results, its
projections may hold good.

The revised exit polls, put together in a joint effort by two
polling companies, MORI and NOP, showed the Conservatives falling 19
seats short of the 326 required for an overall majority.

The television companies did not issue percentage shares of the
vote or the methodology behind the projections – raising questions about
the projection.

With the possibility of vote recounts, and even legal challenges
contesting the outturn in some seats, it could be a very long drawn out
process before the final result is known.

Cameron, if the Conservatives do fall just short of the 326 mark,
could press ahead and try and form a minority government or could go
into coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party.

–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 email:drobinson@marketnews.com
lcommons@marketnews.com

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