General Election 2015: Exit poll says SNP will take all but one of Scotland’s seats

As voting closed in the General Election an exit poll has predicted Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP could win all but one of the seats in Scotland.

The poll suggested the Conservatives would be the largest party at Westminster, winning 316 seats – 10 short of the number needed for an overall majority.

The Labour Party, which is expected to suffer heavy losses north of the border, is on course to have 239 seats across the UK, with the Liberal Democrats also seeing their numbers reduced, according to the study.

Senior SNP figures have welcomed the poll but urged caution that it may not prove acurate.

The poll by GfK, NOP and Ipsos MORI on behalf of the BBC, ITV News, and Sky News, forecast that 58 of the 59 constituencies in Scotland would go to the SNP – who won just six seats in the last general election.

A total of 22,000 people in 141 polling locations in 133 constituencies throughout Great Britain were interviewed for the research.

Ms Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, has spent the election campaign arguing that a large block of SNP MPs could lock the Conservatives out of power at Westminster and help bring an end to austerity.