Tories hail 'big moment' at polls

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The Conservative leader - who saw his party's projected share of the national vote rise to 44% - said it had been a "vote of positive confidence" for his party on the road back to power at Westminster.

Tory hopes of crowning their night of success with a triumph in London also rose after one bookmaker, Paddy Power, announced it was paying out on a Boris Johnson victory, hours before the count was due to be completed.

Mr Cameron said it was a "big moment" for his party, which now had the chance to demonstrate that it was ready for government.

"I think these results are not just a vote against Gordon Brown and his Government. I think they are a vote of positive confidence in the Conservative Party," he said,

"I think this is a very big moment for the Conservative Party, but I don't want anyone to think that we would deserve to win an election just on the back of a failing Government.

"I want us to really prove to people that we can make the changes they want to see. That's what I'm going to devote myself and my party to doing over the next few months."

With almost all the results in, apart from London, Labour had suffered a net loss of 298 councillors - worse than the gloomiest pre-poll predictions - and control of eight councils.

The Conservatives, in contrast, gained 254 councillors and 12 councils.

More importantly for Mr Cameron's prospects of gaining No 10, the Tories showed they were able to win across the country with gains from Southampton to North Tyneside. Other notable gains included Bury in the North West and Nuneaton and Bedworth in the Midlands which they took directly from Labour.