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WATCH General Election 2015: Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, and Nigel Farage resign while Conservatives gain majority

Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, and Nigel Farage have resigned as the leaders of their parties, while David Cameron will remain Prime Minister for the next five years after the Tories remained the largest party in Parliament with an outright majority.

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David Cameron has vowed to govern for the whole of the United Kingdom as he returned to No 10 at the head of a majority Conservative government while the Scottish nationalists swept board north of the border.

After a stunning election night for the Tories, the Prime Minister paid generous tribute to his defeated rivals Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg who both announced that they would be quitting as leaders of their parties.

Following an audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace to confirm his second term in office, Mr Cameron returned to Downing Street with a pledge to restore unity to the country after a bruising five week campaign.

This evening Mr Cameron announced some of the positions in the Cabinet.

Michael Fallon is to continue as Defence Secretary, David Cameron said.

Philip Hammond who has been confirmed as Foreign Secretary arrived at Number 10 shortly after Mrs May, who is to remain as Home Secretary.

Mr Osborne's reappointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer is a mark of the PM's appreciation of his handling of the Treasury throughout the five years of coalition government, and continues a record of continuity in the two top posts of government since 2010.

The Chancellor's "long-term economic plan" was a centrepiece of the election campaign which delivered Conservatives a 12-seat overall majority in the House of Commons and his plans for £30 billion of "consolidation" to eliminate the deficit will be at the heart of the new government's agenda.

During the course of the election, Mr Cameron repeatedly told voters they could secure the stability of having Mr Osborne back at the Treasury by voting Conservative on Thursday.

Mr Cameron will wait until Monday to name the rest of his Cabinet, with more junior jobs being shared out later in the week.

The Prime Minister has a greater scope for patronage among Conservative MPs now that he no longer has to make space in his Cabinet for five Liberal Democrat MPs, as well as a dozen or more in the lower ministerial ranks.

First Secretary of State, a title also given to George Osborne, is a title used only sporadically by prime ministers, usually to mark the special favour given to close allies and colleagues of particular importance to the government.

Previous holders included Mr Hague from 2010-15, Lord Mandelson from 2009-10, John Prescott from 2001-07 and Michael Heseltine from 1995-97. There was no holder of the title between 1970 and 1995 or between 1997 and 2001.

Speaking on the steps of No 10, Mr Cameron - who had repeatedly warned of the dangers of a Labour government propped up by the votes of the SNP - said he would press ahead with the promised further devolution to Scotland "as fast as I can".

"As we conduct this vital work we must ensure that we bring our country together. We will govern as a party of one nation, one United Kingdom," he said.

"It means bringing together the different nations of our United Kingdom. I have always believed in governing with respect.

"In this parliament I will stay true to my word and implement as fast as I can the devolution that all parties agreed for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland."

The news that the Conservatives had passed the 326 mark needed for an outright Commons majority came as Mr Cameron was at the Palace for his audience with the Queen.

Earlier, addressing jubilant activists at Conservative Party headquarters, he hailed the result as the "sweetest victory of them all".

In what will go down as one of the biggest general election shocks since the Second World War, the Conservatives are projected to win 331 seats, with 232 for Labour, 56 for the SNP, eight for the Lib Dems and just one each for Ukip and the Greens.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls and Business Secretary Vince Cable were among the big name casualties on a crushing night for Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

An emotional Mr Miliband apologised to supporters after seeing his hopes of entering No 10 shattered as Labour was blown away north of the border by the nationalists while struggling to take any seats from the Conservatives.

"I am truly sorry that I didn't succeed. I have done my best for five years. Now you need to show your responsibility. Your responsibility not simply to mourn our defeat, but to pick ourselves up and continue the fight," he said.

Mr Clegg, who also announced his resignation, said he believed history would judge his party's time in government "kindly" while issuing a stark warning of the potentially "disastrous" legacy of a highly divisive election campaign.

"This now brings our country to a very perilous point in our history where grievance and fear combine to drive our different communities apart," he said.

"It's no exaggeration to say that in the absence of strong and statesman-like leadership, Britain's place in Europe and the world and the continued existence of our United Kingdom itself is now in grave jeopardy."

Ukip's Nigel Farage also announced he was quitting as leader of his party after failing to secure a Westminster seat in South Thanet - only to say that he could run again for the post in September.

Conservative 331

Labour 232

SNP 56

LibDems 8

UKIP 1

Greens 1

Plaid 3

In the West Midlands, the Conservatives held on in Cannock Chase with new candidate Amanda Milling replacing Aidan Burley, Dudley South where Mike Wood replaces Chris Kelly, Stourbridge represented by Margot James, and Halesowen and Rowley Regis represented by James Morris - all of which were key marginals.

They also held safe seats Lichfield, represented by Michael Fabricant, and Aldridge-Brownhills, which gets a new MP in Wendy Morton following the retirement of Sir Richard Shepherd.

But in Wolverhampton South West Labour's Rob Marris won by a majority of 801 votes, ousting Conservative Paul Uppal.

Labour held on to its most marginal seat in the Black Country as well. Ian Austin increased his majority in Dudley North. The Conservatives recovered their campaign to finish in second place, ahead of UKIP's Bill Etheridge whom the opinion polls had suggested was running very close to Mr Austin.

Labour also kept its MPs in safe seats, John Spellar in Warley, Tom Watson in West Bromwich East, Adrian Bailey in West Bromwich West and Pat McFadden in Wolverhampton South East as well as increasing its majority in Walsall North, where David Winnick won.

Emma Reynolds won her seat in Wolverhampton North East for Labour as did Valerie Vaz in Walsall South.

The Conservatives held South Staffordshire very comfortably. MP Gavin Williamson is the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretary. They also held Stafford, with Jeremy Lefroy, and Wyre Forest.

In Wyre Forest Dr Richard Taylor, the former independent MP, came fourth running with the National Health Action party and Independent Community and Health Concern. The seat was held by Conservative Mark Garnier.

While Mr Cameron was expected to announce the first appointments to his new Cabinet later today, the Labour and the Liberal Democrats face the prospect of lengthy and potentially bruising leadership contests.

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said that she would take up the reins as stand-in leader until a permanent successor was in place, at which point she would step down as deputy as well.

With the Tories far outperforming expectations in an election which had been forecast to deliver another hung parliament, Mr Cameron will no longer have the buttress of a coalition with the Lib Dems and will have to govern with a slender majority.

The scene is set for a tricky few years for the Prime Minister, who will be vulnerable to rebellions by 30 to 40 Conservative backbenchers, who have already shown themselves ready to defy him on issues such as Europe and the family.

He will also be aware of potential successors manoeuvring to replace him after he his declaration prior to the election that this would be his final term as premier.

In Scotland, where shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy were among the casualties of the nationalist surge, former SNP leader Alex Salmond said there had been an "electoral tsunami".

Mr Salmond, who returns to Westminster as MP for Gordon, said: ''There's going to be a lion roaring tonight, a Scottish lion, and it's going to roar with a voice that no government of whatever political complexion is going to be able to ignore."

But the party was denied the clean sweep some had predicted north of the border, as the Liberal Democrats held Orkney and Shetland, Labour retained Edinburgh South, and David Mundell was returned as the only Tory MP in Scotland, holding on to Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.

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