THE TORIES ALMOST HAVE IT

UPDATE: The Lib Dems are meeting with the Tories to find common ground and attempt to form a government. PM Brown is packing up at 10 Downing and the moment the new coalition is presented to the Queen and she gives them permission to form a government Brown will be out. But for now, he's staying.

But it might not be enough.

We're here at the Trafalgar Pub along the Thames as the first exit polls are released and they are predicting that the Tories will have about 305 MPs leaving them 21 short of a majority needed to form a government. Labour will lose about 94 seats but the rumour is that PM Gordon Brown will seek to form a coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats. Labour has much more in common with the Lib Dems then the Conservatives do and tradition appears to hold that the party in power gets the first chance to form a government. The Queen has said she will not see anyone until after lunch tomorrow.

Meanwhile there are reports of rioting in Sheffield where the polls closed and thousands of voters in queues were turned away. This could lead to legal challenges to the election and beloved England may well be headed for their own "2000 election crises" that left the US on the verge of a Constitutional crisis before the Supreme Court stepped in, shut down the count, and brazenly ignored as much precedent as they needed to to assure that Bush was elected.

The scene is somewhat chaotic here as many Londoners are concerned both about reports that the Parliament may be hung for the first time since 1974 and that many voters have been turned away in areas where Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats were expected to so well.

We're going to have another Ale and settle in for a long night and listen to the debates going on all around us.