David Cameron has formed a Conservative government after his party won a majority at the UK general election.

In a statement the prime minister said:

“I’ve just been to see Her Majesty the Queen & I will now form a majority Conservative Government.”

Promising to rebuild the union and “govern as a party of one nation” after a divisive campaign where the Tories won votes on the back of fear about the SNP, Cameron continued:

“We can make Britain a place where a good life is in reach for everyone who’s willing to work & do the right thing.

“I will implement as fast as I can the devolution that all parties agreed for Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland.

“Together, we can make Great Britain greater still.”

Elsewhere, the leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and UKIP have resigned.

Ed Miliband took responsibility for Labour’s failure to win a majority at Westminster and stood down.

In a speech to Labour party members, he said:

“I take absolute and total responsibility for the result and our defeat at this election. I am so sorry for all of my colleagues who lost their seats: Ed Balls, Jim Murphy, Margaret Curran, Douglas Alexander and all our MPs and candidates who were defeated. They are friends, colleagues and standard-bearers for our party. They always have been and always will be.”

Miliband went on to call for Labour to rebuild itself as a strong opposition and say that Harriet harmon would step in as party leader until a full-time replacement could be found.

“Britain needs a strong Labour party. Britain needs a Labour party that can rebuild after this defeat so we can have a government that stands up for working people again.

“Now it is time for someone else to take forward the leadership of this party. So I am tendering my resignation taking effect after this afternoon’s commemoration of VE day at the Cenotaph.

“I want to do so straight away because the party needs to have an open and honest debate about the right way forward, without constraint.

“Let me say that Harriet Harman is the best deputy leader anyone could hope for. I worked for her more than twenty years ago. I am proud to have had her as my deputy for the term of my leadership. She will take over until a new leader is elected.”

Nick Clegg also took responsibility for his party’s failure at the ballot box, where the party lost four fifths of its seats.

In a statement to Liberal Democrat party members, he said:

“I always expected this election to be exceptionally difficult for the Liberal Democrats, given the heavy responsibilities we have had to bear in government in the most challenging of circumstances.

“But clearly the results have been immeasurably more crushing and unkind than I could ever have feared.

“For that, of course, I must take responsibility and therefore I announce that I will be resigning as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

“A leadership election will now take place according to the party’s rules. Our President, Sal Brinton, will be in touch with you later on today with details of that process.

“For the last seven years it has been a privilege and an honour to lead a party of the most resilient, courageous and remarkable people.

The Liberal Democrats are a family and I will always be extremely proud of the warmth, good grace and good humour which our political family has shown through the ups and downs of recent years.”

He went on to call on Liberal Democrats to show their resilience and to keep campaigning for their liberal values despite the electoral defeat:

“This is a very dark hour for our party but we cannot and will not allow decent liberal values to be extinguished overnight.

“Our party will come back. Our party will win again.

“It will take patience, resilience and grit. But that is what has built our party before – and will rebuild it again.”

Nigel Farage was more upbeat about UKIP in his resignation, after the company came second in a number of seats and won nearly four million votes.

On Twitter, he said:

“I have today written to UKIP’s National Executive Committee and offered my resignation. I look forward to a well deserved holiday!”