Exit poll predicts David Cameron's Conservatives ahead in surprise British election result

Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives are on course to be the biggest party in the next British parliament, according to an exit poll from the general election which showed them winning far more seats than had been expected.

The projected result of 316 seats would beat centre-left Labour on 239 seats, upsetting analyst predictions of a neck-and-neck contest between Cameron and Labour challenger Ed Miliband.

It would give the Conservatives and their junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, who are predicted to win 10 seats, a razor-thin majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.

The poll has sent shockwaves through the political community.

Former Liberal Democrat leader and current election strategist Paddy Ashdown told the BBC he would "publicly eat [his] hat" if the poll turned out to be accurate.

The exit poll also hands the Scottish National Party a historic victory, taking its tally of Scotland's 59 seats from just six at the moment to 58.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP), which has campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union and against mass immigration, was predicted to win just two seats.