David Blaine looked thin and was clearly emotional as he left the box

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The Conservative Party has won the general election by a small majority, making Winston Churchill prime minister for the second time.

Polling across 620 of the country's 621 constituencies began at 0700 hours yesterday and continued until 2100 hours.

The sudden death of Labour candidate Mr F Collindridge in Barnsley, Yorkshire, means polling will not take place there until 8 November.

The first results, which started coming in late last night, put Labour ahead.

But by early this afternoon, the Conservatives had taken the lead.

At about 1730 hours today, when it became clear the Conservatives had a majority, Clement Attlee drove to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as Labour prime minister.

Winston Churchill, leader of the Conservatives, was received by the King soon afterwards and accepted his invitation to form Great Britain's 40th government.

Mr Churchill is nearly 77 and the second oldest prime minister in history. William Gladstone was 83 when he formed his last government.

Opinion polls throughout the five-week election campaign had predicted a comfortable majority for the Conservatives and it will come as some disappointment the gap was not bigger.

Several main issues were highlighted during the campaign including the rising cost of living, housing and the expensive rearmament programme which has been ongoing since the war.

Voters rejected Labour's tactic of labelling Mr Churchill as a warmonger and instead embraced the Conservatives election promise that they would now create a "strong and free" Britain.

Throughout the campaign Mr Churchill has spoken of the need for a broad-based government and he is widely expected to appoint a Cabinet with as wide a representation as possible.

Following his victory in his constituency of Woodford, Essex, he said: "We have all, I feel, a great deal in common; and now, perhaps there will be a lull in our party strife which will enable us to understand more what is good in our opponents and not to be so very clever at finding out all their shortcomings."

Mr Attlee was in his constituency of West Walthamstow the day before the election. He recorded his vote at Caxton Hall and was returned with a majority of more than 11,000.

The new Parliament will be sworn in on Wednesday 31 October and the State opening of Parliament will take place on 6 November.

Results from Inverness, Orkney and Zetland, the Western Isles and Argyll are expected some time tomorrow.  

Park Chung Hee was known for his 'firm-hand' rule

Five other people, including the President's bodyguard, were also killed.

The incident took place at the Korean Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters during a dinner being held by Kim in honour of the president.

A government statement revealed that an argument broke out between Kim Jae Kyu and Park's chief bodyguard, Cha Chi Chul, during which a shot was fired by Kim which hit the president as he tried to intervene.

The President was taken from the scene to a nearby army hospital where he later died.

There had been a long-standing dispute between the president and Kim Jae Kyu over whether to adopt a tough or moderate policy towards political opponents.

An emergency meeting of the Cabinet has named Prime Minister Choi Kyu-Hua as acting president. Martial law has also been proclaimed throughout the country.

General Chung, the army chief of staff, has been appointed commander of martial law. His first act was to order a nightly curfew, and to ban all demonstrations throughout the country.

The American government reacted immediately saying that it would deal strongly with any attempt by North Korea to exploit the situation.

The US Defence department ordered American troops based in South Korea to be on 'alert status' as a warning.

Park Chung Hee became President in 1961. He was known for his 'firm-hand' rule which he claimed was justified by the constant threat of invasion from North Korea.

He had already survived one assassination attempt. In 1971 a series of shots were fired at him as he gave a speech. All missed him but one killed his wife.

warmonger: a person who advocates war or warlike policies（好戰者）

constituency :the body of voters who elect a representative for their area（選區的選民）