East Anglia remains a sea of blue after the general election – albeit with a couple of red spots in Norwich South and Cambridge.

But Suffolk and Essex are now solid Conservative territory – apart from the purple patch of UKIP in Clacton where Douglas Carswell resumes his position as his party’s only MP.

Bookies made Labour favourites to take both Ipswich and Waveney in Suffolk – and for veteran LibDem Sir Bob Russell to retain his Colchester seat.

However on the night the Conservatives swept all before them. In both Suffolk marginals the Tories increased their majorities and in Colchester Will Quince converted a LibDem majority of 7,000 into a Conservative majority of 5,500.

There was a similar story across England and Wales – although there were a few seats in London, the West Midlands and the North West of England where Labour did overturn a Tory majority.

However the Tories also won some Labour seats – including that of shadow chancellor Ed Balls who will not be returning to parliament after being beaten by 422 votes in his Yorkshire seat of Morley and Outwood.

Across the country it was a dreadful election for the Liberal Democrats who lost all but eight of their 57 seats.

In Scotland the SNP won 56 of the 59 seats – with one each for the Tories, the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

In the aftermath of the election Ed Miliband, Nigel Farage – who failed in his bid to be elected in Thanet South – and Nick Clegg all resigned as party leaders.

Mr Cameron tribute to Nick Clegg’s work as Deputy Prime Minister and welcomed Ed Miliband’s “typically gracious” concession call earlier today.

Standing in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: “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.”

is now looking to appoint a new cabinet, this time all the posts will be filled by Conservatives.

There will be interest in this part of the world in whether there will be a full cabinet post for West Suffolk MP Matthew Hancock and whether there could be promotion for junior health minister Dr Dan Poulter from Central Suffolk and North Ipswich or Suffolk Coastal’s Dr Therese Coffey who was a government whip in the last parliament.

Newcomers James Cartlidge, Jo Churchill and James Cleverley increased the Conservative majorities in South Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds, and Braintree respectively.