The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, is on the cusp of history as Labour savour the prospect of electoral triumph and an unprecedented second term.
As polling stations closed across the United Kingdom's 659 constituencies, the BBC's NOP exit poll survey of 18,000 voters predicted a second Labour landslide, with a majority for Mr Blair of around 160 seats in the new House of Commons.
The survey projected Labour with 44 per cent of the votes, the Conservatives with 32 per cent, the Liberal Democrats with 17 and others 6.
Tension is mounting at Tory Central Office as campaign planners wait to see whether their efforts in 180 key target seats had been enough to halt the forward march of what Lady Thatcher feared would prove "an elected dictatorship" following a second Labour landslide.