LONDON -- The Conservative Party swept to power Friday in the United Kingdom's parliamentary elections, winning an unexpected majority that returns Prime Minister David Cameron to 10 Downing Street in a stronger position than before.
In announcing his majority Conservative government, Cameron signaled a conciliatory tone, paying tribute to his former coalition partner, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, and the opposition Labor Party's Ed Miliband. Both resigned as leaders of their parties Friday after disappointing election results.
"We can make Britain a place where a good life is in reach for everyone who is willing to work and do the right thing," Cameron said. He promised to counter the rise of Scottish nationalism with more powers for Scotland and Wales, saying he would govern as the party of "one nation, one United Kingdom."
Cameron announced his new government after a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, a formal step of being invited by the queen to form a new government.
Labor took a beating, mostly from energized Scottish nationalists who pulled off a landslide in Scotland.
"This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labor Party," Miliband said in a quasi-concession speech after being re-elected to his seat in the House of Commons.
"I'm truly sorry I did not succeed," he said. "We've come back before and this party will come back again."
With the Conservatives winning an outright majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, the election result looked to be far better for Cameron than even his own party had foreseen. With all 650 constituencies counted, the Conservatives had 331 seats -- up from 302 -- to Labor's 232 -- down from 256. The win returns Cameron to 10 Downing St. for a second term, with enough seats in the House of Commons to act on his agenda without having to rely on support from smaller parties.
In a brief speech outside his official residence, Cameron promised to govern fairly for the whole United Kingdom and said: "The government I led did important work. It laid the foundations for a better future, and now we must build on them."
The election was fought over the economy and the question of whether the Conservative-led government charted the right course through the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, the worst recession since the 1930s. Cameron argued his party needs more time to cement successes after five years of budget cuts designed to shrink the deficit and bolster growth.
Miliband focused the debate on inequality, saying the recovery hasn't trickled down to the poorest in this nation of 64 million. Heaping further pressure on the working poor has been an influx of thousands of migrants from the European Union, particularly from the former Eastern Bloc countries that have recently joined the 28-nation free-trade zone.
The influx has strained schools, hospitals and other public services. Cameron's promise to hold a referendum on the U.K.'s membership in the EU and to win concessions from Europe plainly resonated with voters worried that their country is losing its grip on its borders.
Labor was routed in Scotland by the Scottish National Party, which took 56 of the 59 seats, making it the third-largest group in Parliament. Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC that the vote represented "a clear voice for an end to austerity, better public services and more progressive politics at Westminster."
"The tectonic plates of Scottish politics have clearly shifted, and what we have seen is a historic shift in Scottish political opinion," Sturgeon said.
Former party leader Alex Salmond, who was elected in the seat of Gordon, agreed. "The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country," he said. "We are not the same country as we were a year ago."
Nicola McEwen, a politics professor at the University of Edinburgh, said the election outcome would be "a significant test for the future of the U.K."
"It depends very much on how much influence the SNP can exert within Westminster, and how willing the Conservative government is to respond in a way deemed acceptable to the people of Scotland," she said.
Five years ago, the Scottish National Party won only six seats and just 20 percent of the vote. Now, with 56 seats and more than 50 percent, the party believes it is in a position to push Scottish issues to the forefront of British politics.
"For years they have said that only Labor can stand up to the Tories, but if they can't convince enough English voters to back them it doesn't matter what we do," said Alan Pollock, 49, a party volunteer from the Glasgow area. "This time we have called their bluff and voted for a party that will stick up for Scotland."
Among the early Scottish National Party winners was 20-year-old student Mhairi Black, who defeated Douglas Alexander, Labor's 47-year-old foreign policy spokesman and one of its most senior figures. Black is the youngest U.K. lawmaker since 13-year-old Christopher Monck entered Parliament in 1667.
"The people of Scotland are speaking, and it is time for their voice to be heard at Westminster," Black said.
Meanwhile, Cameron's coalition partner, the Liberal Democrat Party, was dealt a blow in the election, losing most of its seats as punishment for supporting a Conservative-led agenda since 2010. Clegg hung on to his seat in the House of Commons, but he resigned as party leader after results that were below the party's very worst expectations.
"It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats," said Clegg, who had served as deputy prime minister in the departing coalition government under Cameron.
Another loser of the day was U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who resigned after losing his race. His party ran third in opinion polls, but by early Friday had won only one seat -- a casualty of an electoral system in which the candidate with the highest number of votes in each area wins, even if he does not gain a majority of votes cast. Farage called for a reconsideration of the voting system to give more representation to supporters of smaller parties.
Almost 50 million people were registered to vote in Thursday's election. Votes in each constituency were counted by hand and the results followed a familiar ritual. Candidates, each wearing a bright rosette in the color of his party, line up onstage like boxers as a returning officer reads out the results.
Asked Friday why he thought the nation had returned the Conservatives to power, one Londoner, Peter Hamlin, 62, replied, "I think the general feeling is that maybe they had a hard job to do, and they kind of did it OK, and maybe it is time to give them a shot, and maybe a shot on their own without liberals getting in the way of their policies."
There was discouragement among Labor supporters. "I was really disappointed," said Tom Sears, 32, who works at the London Zoo. "People like myself won't suffer, but I worry about people who suffer cuts."
The U.K.'s economy -- recovering after years of turmoil that followed the 2008 financial crisis -- was at the core of many voters' concerns. The results suggest that many heeded Cameron's entreaties to back the Conservatives as the party of financial stability.
Project manager Jonathan Heeley, 42, said it was inevitable that a country struggling to rebuild in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis would be anxious to keep the economic recovery going.
"The country's rebuilding itself, and people want to stay with that," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Jill Lawless, Danica Kirka, Sylvia Hui, Gregory Katz, Martin Benedyk and Paul Kelbie of The Associated Press and by Steven Erlanger, Stephen Castle and Katrin Bennhold of The New York Times.
A Section on 05/09/2015