Lib Dem Nick Clegg has lost his seat in Sheffield Hallam in the most unpredictable election night in decades.
Th
e former Lib Dem leader who served as Deputy Prime Minister in the 2010 coalition government saw Labour eat into his majority in 2015.
He lost by 2,125 votes to Labour newcomer Jared O’Mara.
As the ballots were counted, local sources were suggesting many of the traditionally Tory voters in the constituency who usually vote Lib Dem tactically to keep Labour out had returned to the Conservative Party.
A local Labour source said: Tories that backed him there last time won’t do it again this time, mainly because they’re Brexiteers.
The rise and fall of Nick Clegg
Clegg looked devastated as he said in a concession speech: I’ve never shirked from political battles, I’ve never retreated from the political battlefield. I’ve always sought to stand by the liberal values I believe in.
In politics you live by the sword and you die by the sword.
He said Parliament will face an excruciating task to form a government while presiding over a deeply divided and polarised nation.
Mr Clegg was a prominent Remain supporter and was made the party’s Brexit spokesman shortly after the EU referendum last July.
His majority in Sheffield Hallam suffered significantly in 2015 as students in the constituency reacted badly to his role in the Coalition of 2010.
Several high profile Tories are at risk as results come in from around the country.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd is the highest profile scalp that could go to Labour.
And Treasury minister Jane Ellison, MP for Battersea, lost her seat to Labour.
Meanwhile, reviled men’s rights-backing Tory MP Philip Davies’ 9,000 majority in Shipley looked precarious.