David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party:

“Winning councillors in Sunderland, Bolton, Bury, Wigan and Salford, right across the North of England.A very good set of results, we are the one national party speaking up for Britain. And down in the South West, taking Torbay.

“A great set of results and I think we can really build on them and really go forward, and I think that’s exciting. The Conservative Party is really where it should be at the moment and I am very pleased about that.”

Hazel Blears, Labour Party chair:

“We have got a job of work to do. I’m not saying it’s been a brilliant night for Labour but it’s not been half as bad as people expected it to be and I still think Tories have not made that breakthrough.

“I think you do have to look across the country. Look at Bolton, Bury, Barrow and Crewe. Just a couple of days ago David Cameron was saying they had to make gains in Bolton and Bury otherwise they won’t be breaking through in the North.”

Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat leader:

“Nationally the Liberal Democrats have won a higher vote share than in the last General Election and the latest opinion poll ratings.

“The Liberal Democrats have taken seats from Labour and Conservatives in their heartlands. We have gained Hull and Rochdale from Labour and Eastbourne from the Conservatives.

“Labour has been wiped out in the South and the Conservatives have failed to make any inroads into the Northern cities. These results show that three-party politics is a permanent feature of the British political landscape.”

Alex Salmond, Scottish National Party leader

“There is a wind of change blowing through Scottish politics. I am absolutely confident that when these results are counted. We shall all have to accept that new politics is dawning in Scotland.”

Jacqui Smith, Labour Chief Whip:

“What is remarkable is the failure of the Conservatives to make anything like the sort of gains they need to win a General Election.

“If the Tories cannot make a general breakthrough now, at the mid-term, then it raises serious questions about David Cameron’s party which relies on image and PR branding instead of real policies. In fact the Conservatives actually lost Hastings and Thurrock with Labour gaining North Lincolnshire from the Tories.”

George Osborne, Conservative Shadow Chancellor:

“I think if this was the first major test of David Cameron’s leadership, whether the Tories are heading in the right direction, whether we can win a general election, I think we have passed that.

“We have been picking up seats in the big northern conurbations last night...we are making progress in the north of England, we are back in business, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, I don’t pretend that, across the whole country.

“We’ve got to still engage with people and show that the Conservatives can still be relevant to their communities, but we have made a huge advance on that.”

Angus Robertson, SNP election director:

“The shambles at many counts, postal vote blunders and the number of spoiled ballot papers is disgraceful. The Scotland Office, Scottish Executive and Electoral Commission have to answer for bringing Scotland’s democratic process into disrepute.”

Rhodri Morgan, Labour leader of the Welsh Assembly:

“I feel very upbeat about the situation of Welsh Labour and our relationship with the people. I think it’s clear that Labour will be by far the largest party in the new Assembly. I said at the beginning of the campaign our biggest enemy isn’t the other three parties, but Labour apathy.”

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