Nigel Farage is standing down as Ukip leader after losing his bid to be elected MP for South Thanet.

Kent’s reputation as a true blue Tory heartland was consolidated in an election night and day of high drama, which has also seen Labour's Ed Miliband and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg quit.

But Sevenoaks' Michael Fallon keeps his job as defence secretary in David Cameron's govenment.

Farage's bid to win the South Thanet seat for Ukip ended at 10.35am when it was announced he had polled 2,812 votes fewer than his Tory rival Craig Mackinlay.

Earlier Ukip's Mark Reckless, who defected from the Tories in September, lost his seat to Conservative candidate Kelly Tolhurst by a 7,000 vote margin.

Farage had vowed to resign as Ukip leader if he failed to win in South Thanet, and less than an hour after the result was announced he confirmed he was to quit.

Video: The election as it happened in Thanet

He said there had been a political earthquake but, referring to the SNP landslide, said it had taken place in Scotland.

Farage said he felt many Ukip supporters had voted Conservative to avoid a Labour/SNP coalition. He added the fact Ukip had ended up with only one MP showed the first past the post electoral system was bankrupt.

He said he would now take his first holiday since 1993 and 'have some fun.'

Video: The thrills and spills of the Medway counts

Mackinlay said it felt 'fantastic' to have been elected, adding he did not feel sympathy for Farage.

He pledged to work with North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale to get Manston airport reopened.

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At the Medway count, Kelly Tolhurst performed a victory jig as the results were announced while Reckless was heckled with shouts of 'you're fired' as he made his speech.

He had a blunt response when asked why he had lost, stating simply: 'I didn't get enough votes.'

However, he added he had no regrets about defecting to Ukip.

The high turnout meant results came in much later than anticipated with the first result being declared in Canterbury at about 3am.

The comfortable victory notched up by Conservative Julian Brazier set the pattern for the evening, with the party recording a series of victories in every seat that it held.

An ecstatic Tracey Crouch was embraced by supporters after the results came in, as it was announced she had secured almost double the votes of her nearest rival, Labour's Tristran Osborne.

The results in full

She said she was 'truly honoured' to be returned as MP and vowed to work tirelessly for constituents.

The Faversham and Mid Kent count saw similarly jubilant scenes as newcomer Helen Whately took the Tory safe seat.

Gillingham and Rainham candidate Rehman Chishti enjoyed a more reserved victory celebration, but he too won by a sizable margin.

It was a pattern repeated across the country, with the Tories now set to defy the pollsters and form a majority government.

For Labour, it was a miserable night as they failed to make any inroads into either of its two target seats - Dover and Deal and Chatham and Aylesford.

Ed Miliband announced his resignation at noon, saying Britain needed Labour to rebuild following the devastating defeat.

He thanked Labour for allowing him to lead the party he had joined as a 17-year-old.

But if Labour had a bad night, it was arguably worse for the Lib Dems, who were pushed from second to fourth in a string of seats.

Its hopes of causing an upset in Maidstone and Weald came to nothing in a crushing result which saw it come a disappointing second place.

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Leader Nick Clegg had visited the constituency to back his candidate Jasper Gerard, but when the votes were counted he had polled less than half that of Tory incumbent Helen Grant.

Announcing his resignation as leader at 11.30am, Clegg said he hoped history would judge his party kindly but accepted the Lib Dems had seen 'catastrophic' results.

While the political map of the county was not exactly redrawn, the results represented a more than comfortable victory for the Conservatives, who had good reason to be anxious about the impact of Ukip.

Despite their Kent disappointment, Ukip has leapfrogged both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to take second spot in several seats.

But it might be just enough to put a little gloss on an evening when its dreams became something of a nightmare.

Local result round-ups:

Medway seats

Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Ashford

Faversham and Mid Kent

Maidstone and the Weald

Gravesham

Sevenoaks

Folkestone and Hythe

Dartford

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