The Liberal Democrats are on course for big gains as election results indicate a bigger-than-expected flight from the Conservatives to Mr Charles Kennedy's party.
The LibDems are poised to capture 62 Westminster seats and 20 per cent of the vote, according to an ITN exit poll - 16 more seats than they won in 1997.
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The BBC's exit poll forecast a more modest 53 seats for the LibDems, but still a solid gain over their showing four years ago.
Mr Kennedy personally strolled to his fifth consecutive parliamentary term in his Scottish constituency of Ross, Skye and Inverness with a 13,000 vote majority, up from his 4,000 vote margin in 1997.
The LibDems fought their campaign on a well-received platform to increase taxes and pour money into health, transport and education.
But as the Tories floundered with their focus on keeping Britain out of the euro, Mr Kennedy changed tact and focused the latter stages of his campaign on a bid to unseat the Tories as the main opposition.
Mr Kennedy also capitalised on growing voter sentiment that Labour, who stormed to power with a 1997 landslide victory, had failed to deliver on promises to better fund and modernise crumbling public services.
Asked about William Hague's future if the Conservatives make as poor a showing as predicted, Mr Kennedy said: "There is no point in shooting the messenger... I think the problem is the message and the Conservative Party itself."
The LibDems - once dismissed as a third force with no real weight in British politics - say they want to use this election to eventually leapfrog the Tories and become the true opposition to Labour.