UK ELECTION: EARLY RESULTS CONTRADICT "HUNG PARLIAMENT" EXIT POLL

The shock exit poll.

After a shock exit poll that predicted a hung UK parliament, the first results of the night in the Labour heartlands of Newcastle and Sunderland point to Theresa May's Conservative Party getting a majority after all, in line with the final opinion polls taken before the vote.

If the Tories keep or increase their majority that would avoid the so-called "coalition of chaos" that would result from Labour, Lib Dems, and the SNP cobbling together an anti-Conservative, anti-Brexit coalition.

The exit poll involving 20,000 people leaving polling stations suggested that May's party has taken just 314 seats in total, 12 short of an overall majority, with Labour increasing its seats by 34 to 266, while the SNP would take 34 and the Liberal Democrats 14.

The first actual results in, however, show numbers out of sync with that projection, with the Conservative vote higher than expected against the exit poll projections. 

Postal votes that were not counted in the exit poll are thought to be favouring the Conservative Party. 

UKIP voters (12.6% of the electorate at the 2015 General Election) seem to be voting tactically for the Conservatives, considering them the better choice than Labour or the "coalition of chaos" to achieve a clean BREXIT. 

In Scotland the Scottish Conservatives, under the leadership of feisty lesbian Ruth Davidson, are reported to have made important breakthroughs, and in North Wales several Labour seats look set to fall to the Conservatives.

This all points to Theresa May hanging on to her majority and possibly even increasing it. But we shall see.