ED Miliband has sensationally quit as Labour leader after a disastrous night in the polls.
His party was humiliated by the Conservatives as David Cameron was elected PM and claimed the scalps of THREE party leaders.
Miliband, Lib Dem chief Nick Clegg and Ukip’s Nigel Farage all announced their resignations within just 52 minutes of each other.
Labour suffered a string of high-profile losses across England and Scotland — including election strategist Douglas Alexander and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, Miliband’s right-hand man.
And the Lib Dems took a battering too — with Business Secretary Vince Cable and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander both losing their seats.
At a press conference in London, beleaguered party chief Miliband solemnly said: “This is not the speech I wanted to give today.
“Earlier today I rang David Cameron and congratulated him. I take absolute and total responsibility for the result and our defeat at this election.
“Britain needs a strong Labour party and now it’s time for someone else to take forward the leadership. So I am tendering my resignation.”
He added: “Thank you for the selfies, thank you for the support. And thank you for the most unlikely cult of the 21st century — Milifandom.”
Ukip leader Farage was the first party chief to quit after failing in his bid to become MP in the Kent seat of South Thanet — losing out to Tory defector Craig Mackinlay by more than 2,800 votes.
But despite losing, he insisted he had “never felt happier”.
Shortly afterwards, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg resigned as party chief.
Despite being applauded outside Labour’s HQ, senior figures earlier refused to publicly back Miliband after the party’s worst performance since 1987.
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Ex-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: “It’s for Mr Miliband to make up his mind about his future.”
Even his own deputy Harriet Harman, who is now in charge as acting Labour leader, refused to say he should stay on in the job if he loses.
Ms Harman would only say: “I just think it’s too early to answer these questions.”
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The Lib Dems also suffered a battering at the ballot box with the party almost wiped off the political map.
Business Secretary Vince Cable was close to tears after seeing his 12,000 majority in Twickenham destroyed by Tory Tania Mathias.
Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, also lost his Inverness seat to the SNP.
Clegg narrowly clung on in Sheffield Hallam — with a hugely reduced majority.
He said: “It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats.”
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Paul Burstow, former Lib Dem Health Minister, also lost his seat to the Tories in Sutton and Cheam, and Armed Forces minister Nick Harvey lost North Devon to the Conservatives.
The troubled party forfeited more than £60,000 in deposits after failing to win more than five per cent of the votes in vast swathes of seats.
It was not only Labour and the Lib Dems who suffered defeat in the election — Ukip lost their seat in Rochester along with party leader Nigel Farage’s failure in his bid to become MP in South Thanet.
He said Ukip voters would be angry at their lack of MPs despite polling nearly 13 per cent of the votes across the country.
Meanwhile, Respect MP George Galloway got the boot in Bradford West.
Galloway lost by a staggering 11,000 votes to Labour’s Naz Shah and then gave a bizarre speech insisting his political career was not over yet.
He said: “The hyena can bounce on the lion’s grave but it can never be a lion and in any case, I’m not in my grave.”
But despite Labour snatching the seat from Galloway, the party is nursing a heavy defeat in the polls elsewhere.
The SNP swept aside Labour in Scotland — winning 56 out of 59 seats in the country and leaving Labour with just one MP north of the border.
The party’s leader in Scotland, Jim Murphy, also lost his seat in East Renfrewshire to SNP candidate Kirsten Oswald.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon hailed the win and said Labour had been “losing the trust of the people of Scotland over a period of years”.
She said: “What we’re seeing tonight is Scotland voting to put its trust in the SNP to make Scotland’s voice heard.”