Victory by David Cameron's Conservatives Friday in one of the most unexpected upsets in British political history has been accompanied by an almost unprecedented electoral bloodbath of dozens of high-profile figures.

"Clearly the results have been immeasurably more crushing and unkind than I could ever have feared," said Nick Clegg, the coalition's deputy prime minister and one of the few in his party to survive in parliament.

Looking utterly distraught, he quit as Liberal Democrat party leader, calling the results catastrophic.

Nigel Farage of the anti-EU UK Independence Party also stood down as party leader, keeping a promise he made should he fail to win a parliamentary seat, although UKIP did better than ever before, winning almost 4 million votes, it only captured one seat.

Parliament also lost one of its most colorful and controversial lawmakers in the shape of George Galloway, an outspoken Scot who once lauded former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

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