First results from the British general election last night appeared to support exit poll predictions of a historic third victory for Labour but with a massive reduction in prime minister Tony Blair's Commons majority.
A minute after polling stations closed across the United Kingdom, NOP and MORI - jointly commissioned for the BBC and ITN - had Labour scoring an unprecedented third win but with only 37 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Conservatives on 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 22 per cent.
On those figures Mr Blair's projected majority in the new House of Commons would be slashed by almost 100, a fall certain to renew questions about his tenure in 10 Downing Street.
And a long, nervous night for Labour's high command was guaranteed within the hour when Sunderland South declared foreign office minister Chris Mullin re-elected, but with a swing to the Conservatives of 4 per cent. With Labour's share of the vote down 5 per cent, the Conservatives up 2 per cent and the Liberal Democrats up 3 per cent, expert Prof Anthony King said if that pattern was repeated throughout the night the end result for Mr Blair might be still worse than that suggested by the exit poll.
Amid worrying reports for Labour that the Conservatives were challenging hard in key target seats like Putney, Hove and Birmingham Edgbaston, the pattern was then repeated in neighbouring Sunderland North. Labour again held this safe seat on a 50 per cent turnout but with its share of the vote down a full 9 per cent.
With the Conservatives also down 1 per cent and the Liberal Democrats up 6 per cent, this suggested an even higher swing to the Conservatives of 5 per cent, with the Lib Dems attracting support from disillusioned Labour supporters.
Commenting on the early results and the exit poll, health secretary John Reid said that, if broadly correct, the final outcome would be a truly "historic" achievement for Labour under Mr Blair. He anticipated an overall result equalling Margaret Thatcher's previously unrivalled election winning record.
However Labour's election co-ordinator, while echoing the same line, appeared to confirm reports that Labour strategists in London were anticipating a night for further shocks and reverses in some of the battleground marginal seats. Alan Milburn said: "There's a health warning on any exit poll. But if this exit poll is right, then Labour would have secured a third term in government for the first time in our party's history."
Michael Howard, meanwhile, had his eyes on key Tory target seats like Putney to discover if he had sufficiently increased his party's overall share of the vote and gained sufficient seats to stave off another Conservative leadership crisis.
Meanwhile, voting in the Northern Ireland constituencies with 1.1 million registered voters picked up last evening, providing a brisk end to a day described by the electoral office as "steady".
Results due later today are widely expected to underscore the positions of Sinn Féin and the DUP as unequivocal leaders of the North's distinct political communities.