Mhairi Black could lose her seat as exit polls suggest close election result

​Mhairi Black could be on track to lose her seat as exit polls suggest a close result for her constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

The 22-year-old Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate became Britain’s youngest MP when she entered the House of Commons in 2015.

According to the exit poll, Ms Black has a 46 per cent of victory in her seat near Glasgow – lower than Labour candidate Alison Dowling, who has a 54 per cent chance of victory.

“Paisley & Renfrewshire South looking close. Mhairi Black (SNP) in trouble,” tweeted the Britain Elects account.

The shock exit poll suggests Ms May, who triggered the election with a huge majority in opinion polls over her main opponent Jeremy Corbyn, will lose her overall majority and only take 314 seats in total.

If the poll is correct, it would be a significant setback for SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose party won a historic 56 out of 59 seats north of the border just two years ago.

Ms Black won the seat from Labour in 2015 with 51 per cent of the vote, compared to Labour's 39 per cent, the Conservatives' eight per cent and the Lib Dems' two per cent.

She confirmed she would stand in this year's election despite admitting she "hates" Westminster and claiming that "a lot of the time, it is just a waste of time."

In April she said she would nonetheless seek re-election, saying the vote was “our opportunity to once again reject the Tories’ agenda and provide a strong voice for Scotland”.

As leader of the party that seems certain to win the most seats, Ms May will have the first opportunity to form a government.

However, should she prove unable to pass key legislation such as a budget or Queen's Speech, Mr Corbyn could be asked by the Queen to attempt to form a government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Greens.

The exit poll suggests such a coalition would have 323 seats, which, if Sinn Fein follows its tradition of not taking its seats in Parliament, would be enough for a tiny majority.

The poll, conducted by election expert Professor John Curtice for the BBC, Sky and ITV, stunned the country by predicting Theresa May's gamble in calling an early election could have backfired.

However, the 2015 exit poll underestimated support for the Conservatives and predicted they would win 15 fewer seats than they actually did. Should that prove to be true again, Ms May would have a majority similar to the one she held before the election.

The poll suggests the Tories would be down 17 seats on their result in the 2015 general election, while Labour gains 34, the SNP loses 22 and the Liberal Democrats gain six.

However, even after 30,000 voters were questioned at 144 polling stations, there is always a possibility that the exit polls may be misleading.

In 2015, they significantly underestimated the Tory tally, putting David Cameron's party on 316 when it finally emerged with 331.

Emily Thornberry has called on Theresa May to resign if she loses her overall majority as predicted.

Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary said the Prime Minister “should consider her position” after exit polls suggested the UK could be heading for a hung parliament.

“I think she should go, because I think she has manifestly failed,” she told Sky News.