So the final votes are being counted - and it looks like Labour have been returned with a much reduced, but still significant, majority (68 is the latest reckoning). Tony Blair has secured a genuinely historic third term, but inevitably a lot of the media focus is now on how much longer he will stay on as PM.

There were a few surprises on the night, as there always are, but from a personal point of view I was disappointed to see Oona King lose her seat. While my politics differ significantly from hers, I think the campaign fought in Bethnal and Bow Green was a pretty disgraceful one - watch George Galloway's post-result interview with Jeremy Paxman and make up your own mind....