Brown goes home as the UK heads for a hung parliament

Gordon Brown returned to 10 Downing Street today without any clear indication of whether he will be able to remain there as British Prime Minister.

A spokesman for the PM said Mr Brown aimed to get some rest and see his family after an inconclusive night’s counting in the tightest General Election for a generation, which appears to have produced the first hung Parliament since 1974.

But his decision to go back through the famous front door to Number 10 will be seen by some as an indication that he intends to seek a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats in an attempt to cling to power.

With the majority of votes counted, it seemed almost certain that the Conservatives will come out of the 2010 election as the largest single party, but without the 326 MPs they would need to secure an overall majority in the House of Commons.

Latest projections suggested that Labour ranks at Westminster will be reduced to 259, with Lib Dems on 54, suggesting that the two parties together would have marginally more MPs than the Tories on 309, but not enough to form an outright majority without the support of the smaller parties.

Sources indicated Mr Brown was ready to embark on days of talks aimed at piecing together a coalition.

Conservative leader David Cameron insisted Labour had “lost its mandate to govern our country”, as his party raced ahead in terms of seats won in the new parliament.

The Conservatives were on target to gain more seats in this ballot than in any General Election for 80 years, said Mr Cameron after winning his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire.

But Mr Brown insisted: “My duty in all of this is that there be a stable, strong and principled government and to play my part in making that possible.

“I think it is too early to say what the verdict of the people is but it is pretty clear that what the people will want at the end of this election is a government that is strong, stable and principled.”

He told reporters travelling to London with him from his count in Kirkcaldy: “I am the leader of the Labour Party but I’ve also got a duty to the country.”

He added: “The economy is incredibly important to our future and we must be sending out the right message to the world.”

The Liberal Democrats had a disappointing night, with no sign of the so-called “Cleggmania” prompted by the TV debates being translated into votes or seats.

Deflated leader Nick Clegg acknowledged: “We simply didn’t achieve what we hoped.”

Mr Clegg gave no indication of which party he would seek to talk to first in the wake of the inconclusive result, cautioning other leaders against “rushing into making claims or taking decisions” which did not stand the test of time.

He urged everyone involved to “take a little time” to ensure people got the government they deserved during these “difficult times”.

Mr Brown was in talks with key lieutenants including Lord Mandelson, campaign co-ordinator Douglas Alexander and former Lib Dem Lord Adonis at Labour HQ in London before returning to Number 10.

They will have been weighing up whether the likely results made a pact with Lib Dems – possibly also involving deals with Welsh and Scottish nationalists, the SDLP and the UK’s first Green MP, Caroline Lucas – viable.

Mr Cameron will pile on pressure for Mr Brown to concede defeat and clear the way for him to try to govern, either at the head of a minority administration or with the support of unionists in the North and other parties.

Speaking at the Witney count, Mr Cameron said: “What’s clear from these results is that the country, our country, wants change. That change is going to require new leadership and we will stand ready to do all we can to help bring that leadership.”

Mr Cameron, foreshadowing extensive wrangling over who would form an administration, promised to put the national interest first in the “hours ahead, or perhaps longer than the hours ahead”.

A rollercoaster night may not have produced a clear result, but it did deliver some memorable moments, including the defeat of some of Westminster’s big names.

High-profile casualties at the ballot box were former home secretary Jacqui Smith – who was an early casualty of the MPs’ expenses scandal – ex-Cabinet heavyweight Charles Clarke and a clutch of junior ministers.

But Tories were denied their “Portillo moment” in Morley and Outwood, where Mr Brown’s closest Cabinet ally Ed Balls hung on with a majority of just over 1,000 despite a determined Conservative effort to “decapitate” him.

A clutch of prominent Lib Dems to lose their seats included Lembit Opik, ousted by a massive swing to the Conservatives in Montgomeryshire, and Susan Kramer, who lost to environmentalist millionaire Tory Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park.

And in Northern Ireland, Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson – damaged by recent revelations about his wife’s private life – sensationally lost his East Belfast seat to the city’s Lord Mayor Naomi Long, who becomes the non-sectarian Alliance Party’s first MP.

In Brighton Pavilion, Green leader Ms Lucas became her party’s first ever MP, telling cheering supporters that they had put “the politics of hope above the politics of fear”.

But the British National Party failed to deliver the breakthrough it was hoping for, with leader Nick Griffin trailing in third place in Barking. Labour victor Margaret Hodge said voters in the east London seat had sent a clear message to the extreme-right party: “Pack your bags and go.”

Election night was marred by chaos at polling stations across the country as hundreds of voters in areas including Sheffield, Hackney and Manchester tried in vain to cast their ballots before the 10pm deadline.

The Electoral Commission promised a thorough review.

Mr Brown and Mr Cameron both arrived at their respective party HQs just as dawn broke, braced for what could be days of wrangling over who should be in Number 10, supervised by senior civil servants led by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell.

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said a desire for “fundamental, radical reform” meant Labour must try to form a government.

Speaking after he was re-elected to his seat in Neath with an increased majority, Mr Hain said: “I think there is an obligation on us, in the Labour Government led by the Prime Minister, to see whether we can form a progressive majority government.”

That, too, seemed a blatant approach to the Lib Dems to join with Labour to keep Mr Cameron out of Downing Street.

Labour election supremo Lord Mandelson made plain Labour would seek to stay in office.

The Business Secretary told BBC News: “The constitutional conventions are very clear.

“The rules are that, if it’s a hung Parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go – it’s the sitting Government.”

Home Secretary Alan Johnson, asked on BBC News if he had any problem in forming a pact with the Liberal Democrats, said: “I have no problem at all.”