Conservative Party leader David Cameron, accompanied by his wife Samantha, arrives at his party's headquarters in central London
Despite not winning an overall majority, the Tories still handily beat the other parties and achieved a sizable swing of 5%, gaining 97 seats and taking 36.1% of the total vote. In fact, they gained more seats than in any election in the past 80 years and ended up with a higher share of the vote than Labour achieved in the last election, in 2005, when they won with a majority of more than 60. On the other extreme, Labour lost more seats (91) than the party had let slip in any general election since 1931.