The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, was on the cusp of history this morning, carrying Labour to an unprecedented second full term in power.
As he was returned in his Sedgefield constituency, Mr Blair hailed the unfolding results as a moment of "historic opportunity" for the Labour Party and the people of Britain.
The scale of Mr Blair's projected second landslide re mained unclear, as early results suggested a spectacularly low turnout - possibly the lowest since 1918.
First indications from marginal seats, and expected regional variations, also complicated the picture - with expectations growing that the Liberal Democrats could add to the 46 seats they won in 1997.
The spotlight was immediately turned on Mr William Hague's prospects of remaining leader of the Conservative Party.
In a crushing blow to Conservative morale, the Tory candidate failed to win Torbay - the party's second target seat in the country - where the Liberal Democrats turned their 1997 margin of just 12 votes into a runaway majority of 6,708.
The Tories actually saw their share of the vote fall in Edgbaston in Birmingham, another key marginal seat which Labour held on a reduced turnout of 56 per cent.
Sunderland South beat all-comers to be the first constituency to declare, barely 43 minutes after polling stations closed at 10 p.m. The Labour MP and junior minister Mr Chris Mullin held the seat on a turnout of just less than 48.3 per cent.
After more than four hours of counting the BBC revised its predicted majority for Labour up by three seats, from 160 to 163 - while allowing that the final tally might still leave Mr Blair in or around his 1997 majority of 179 seats.
However, predictions that the Liberal Democrats could end the night with as many as 57 seats - compared to 46 last time - raised the nightmare prospect for Mr Hague that the Conservatives might end-up with marginally fewer MPs in the next parliament.
The shadow chancellor, Mr Michael Portillo, dismissed the original BBC exit poll, choosing to await the actual result before conceding. Asked directly what size Labour majority Mr Hague could survive, Mr Portillo said: "I very much hope that whatever happens, he will remain as our leader. If we've gone down to a bad defeat I think everyone should draw breath, and no one should take precipitate action."
That sentiment was echoed by Mr Kenneth Clark, the former Conservative chancellor, rumoured to be among those pro-European Tories ready to push for early British entry into the Euro. "William will carry on in his job," was his prediction. The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, insisted that Labour's "moral authority" would actually be enhanced rather than diminished by the low turnout. He said this was the result of "a complex of factors including the politics of contentment" and the fact that media coverage had convinced many Labour voters the election was "already won".