CAMERON BACK TO 10.

The Conservatives will be the largest party after the General Election, according to an exit poll carried out for the major broadcasters.

The poll put the Conservatives on 316 seats, Labour on 239, the Scottish National Party on 58, the Liberal Democrats on 10 and UKIP on two.

The first results of the night saw Labour holding both Sunderland Central, Houghton and Sunderland South and Washington and Sunderland West.

The parties are trying to get 326 seats to command a majority.

And if the election result mirrors that of the exit poll, David Cameron will be just 10 seats short - the number predicted to be won by the Lib Dems.

Former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell told Sky News: "If the exit poll turns out to be correct, then I think we're looking at a scenario where David Cameron remains as Prime Minister, and he has two choices.

"One is to carry on with coalition, Coalition 2.0 as we call it in the trade, but it will be a different form of coalition because the Lib Dems will be much, much smaller, so would have fewer ministers. Or he could decide to go on as [head of] a minority government."

Home Secretary Theresa May told Sky News: "If the results of the exit polls are correct it shows a clear win for David Cameron and the Conservatives.

"But it is only an exit poll, I think we have to wait until all the votes have been counted and we can see what the results are.

"Whatever the result, we are clear that the Conservatives will make the choice that is right for the country."

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, told Sky News the party was "very sceptical" about the forecast.

"Even if the exit poll is right, and we are very sceptical, it does actually show that the coalition by David Cameron has all but lost its majority," she added.

The exit poll forecast would represent a disaster for the Liberal Democrats, who held 56 seats before polling started.

But Liberal Democrat President Baroness Brinton told Sky News that polls had consistently underestimated Liberal Democrat support.

"I would be astonished if we only had 10 seats at the end of the night," she said.

"I suspect that we will lose seats but I really don't believe we will go down to 10. Let's see what happens overnight."

The poll suggests the SNP will win almost every seat in Scotland - wiping out Labour north of the border.

However, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was cautious about the predictions.

She tweeted: "I'm hoping for a good night but I think 58 seats is unlikely! #GE15"

Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said: "Clearly if the exit poll is right it is a terrible result for Labour in Scotland. I really hope it’s going to be wrong."

The Greens are predicted to win two seats, Plaid Cymru four and others 19, according to the survey.

The Ipsos MORI/Gfk NOP poll was carried out for Sky News, ITV News and the BBC at 141 polling locations in 133 constituencies across Great Britain.