IT was a night in which Labour were wiped out by the SNP in Scotland and the Liberal Democrats were crushed across the country.

This is how the General Election unfolded throughout the night:

10pm: Exit poll puts the Conservatives ahead on 316 seats, with Labour on 239 seats, the Liberal Democrats on 10, the SNP on 58 and Ukip on two.

23.16pm: Labour won the first seat to declare in the 2015 General Election with an increased majority for Bridget Phillipson in Houghton and Sunderland South.

1.52am: Conservatives comfortably hold Nuneaton - one of Labour's key target seats - with 20,827 votes to Labour's 15,945.

2.22am: Labour shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander loses his Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat in the House of Commons to the SNP's Mhairi Black.

2.50am Prime Minister David Cameron arrives at the count of his constituency of Witney.

2.55am: Labour loses Gordon Brown's former seat in Scotland, the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, to the SNP.

3.10am Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy loses his East Renfrewshire seat to the SNP's Kirsten Oswald.

3.34am: Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary Ed Davey lost his Kingston and Surbiton constituency to the Conservatives.

3.59am: Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael retained his seat in Orkney and Shetland, with the Liberal Democrat seeing off the challenge from the SNP.

4.06am: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg arrives at the count in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam.

4.07am: Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone, the coalition's crime prevention minister, loses Hornsey and Wood Green to Labour.

4.11am: Simon Hughes, a senior Liberal Democrat and MP of 32 years'

standing, loses in Bermondsey and Old Southwark to Labour by around 5,000 votes.

4.12am: Labour leader Ed Miliband arrives at the count in the Doncaster North constituency.

4.13am: Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond wins the Gordon seat, beating his Liberal Democrat rival Christine Jardine.

4.18am: Ukip won its first seat in a General Election, with former Conservative MP Douglas Carswell seeing a much reduced majority compared to last year's by-election.

4.23am: Ukip is forced into third place in Thurrock, one of its highest-priority seats, as Jackie Doyle Price wins re-election for the Conservatives by a slender majority over Labour.

4.31am: Boris Johnson returns to Parliament as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, winning a majority of more than 10,000 votes.

4.37am: Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable loses his Twickenham seat to the Conservatives.

4.51am: Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg holds onto his Sheffield Hallam seat.

He said he would be discussing his leadership with colleagues after a "cruel and punishing night for his party".

5.01am: Conservative Scotland Office Minister David Mundell holds his seat of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale despite a strong challenge from the SNP.

5.02am: Employment minister Esther McVey is defeated in Wirral West, after Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the tight marginal.

5.25am: Labour leader Ed Miliband, who retains his Doncaster North seat, says: "This has clearly been a very difficult and disappointing night for the Labour Party."

5.34am: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett falls to an expected defeat in Holborn and St Pancras, finishing third.

5.46am: Accepting victory in his Witney constituency, David Cameron says: "This is clearly a very strong night for the Conservative Party.

We've had a positive response to a positive campaign."

He added his aim was to "govern on the basis of governing for everyone"

in Britain and to "bring our United Kingdom together" by implementing devolution reforms in Scotland and Wales. He said he would pursue a One Nation agenda "if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days".

5.55am: Former Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander loses the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey seat to the SNP's Drew Hendry.

6:07am: George Galloway, of the Respect Party, loses the Bradford West seat to Labour's Naseem Shah, who won with nearly 20,000 votes.

6.08am: The Conservatives enjoy their best election result in Wales for 32 years, taking the Gower constituency which Labour had held for more than 100 years, as well as Vale of Clwyd from Labour and Brecon and Radnorshire from the Liberal Democrats - amounting to their best showing since 1983.

6.54am: Tory housing minister Brandon Lewis holds off challenges on two fronts from Ukip and Labour to retain Great Yarmouth seat.

7.18am: Tory Chancellor George Osborne holds his seat in Tatton with a majority of 18,241.

7.37am: The Green Party's Caroline Lucas comfortably holds on to her Brighton Pavilion seat.

7.40am: David Cameron arrives back at 10 Downing Street with his wife, Samantha.

8.03am: The FTSE 100 Index opens 76 points higher following the General Election.

8.12am: Ukip's Mark Reckless loses Rochester and Strood to the Tories.

8.18am: Shadow chancellor Ed Balls loses his Morley and Outwood constituency to the Conservatives by 422 votes after a recount.

8.33am: Downing Street announces David Cameron will leave for Buckingham Palace to see the Queen at 12.30pm today.

8.39am: The Spectator magazine publishes a tweet containing Mr Cameron's speech to Tory staff in which he describes it as "the sweetest victory of them all".

9.20am: Rumours emerge that Labour leader Mr Miliband will stand down following a bruising night for the party.

9.30am: Mr Miliband arrives at Labour HQ, with Justine, his wife, to speak with staff and aides.

9.45am: In one of his final tweets as Labour leader, Mr Miliband writes: "Defeats are hard, but we're a party that will never stop fighting for the working people of this country."

10.35am: Ukip's Mr Farage is tipped to become the third party leader to resign after he fails to win the Thanet South seat from the Conservatives.

11.23am: Mr Farage confirms he will be stepping down as Ukip leader - but says he may stand for re-election in September.

11.34am: Mr Clegg quits as leader of the Liberal Democrats following huge losses for his party.

11.39am: In his speech to supporters, Mr Clegg says: "It has simply been heartbreaking to see so many friends and colleagues who have served their constituents so diligently, over so many years, abruptly lose their seats because of forces entirely beyond their control."

12.15pm: Mr Miliband quits as Labour leader.

12.26pm: Mr Cameron arrives at Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen to confirm his second term as Prime Minister following his party's General Election victory.

12.34pm: Plaid Cymru leader Ms Wood insists she is pleased with her party's General Election performance despite not making any gains.

12.35pm: The Tories reach the 326 seats needed to command an absolute majority in the House of Commons by holding the Cotswolds.

1pm: Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha pose for photographs as they arrive back at Downing Street from Buckingham Palace.