Britain's May 6 general election was different from previous elections both in the way the campaigns were conducted and in its final outcome.
The turnout was a respectable 65 percent, some 4 percent better than at the previous election in 2005. The electoral commission made insufficient arrangements for voting in some constituencies and some voters were turned away without voting when the polls closed.
With 36 percent of the votes cast the Conservatives took 306 seats, an increase of 96. The Labour Party with 29 percent of the votes took 258 seats, a loss of 91 seats. The Liberal Democrats slightly increased their share of the votes to 23 percent but only took 57 seats, a loss of 6 seats. Other parties such as the Scottish and Welsh nationalists and Northern Irish Parties took 28 seats, including one seat won by the Green Party.