WITH Britain heading towards a hung parliament as the final General Election results pour in, it remains unclear which party will be in position to form a Government.

No party is likely to have the 326 MPs which would allow them to govern outright, meaning the scene is set for days of political horse-trading.

As the incumbent Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has the right to try to form an administration first and could approach some of the smaller parties in an attempt to gain their support in forming a coalition.

He is most likely to turn to the Liberal Democrats, but they may also be wooed by the Conservatives, who are set to have the most seats.

It is also possible that if the Tories fail to win an overall majority but have a clear lead in terms of the number of seats and the share of the vote they have won, Mr Brown may concede defeat and quit as Prime Minister.

If that happened, the Queen would be likely to invite David Cameron to try to form a Government. He may then seek a coalition of his own or, if the Conservatives are only a few seats short of an overall majority, choose to continue with a minority Government and look for informal arrangements to get legislation passed. He could also look to build a coalition with Northern Ireland's unionist parties There is no formal date by which an administration must be formed, but a crucial date will be May 25 when the Queen's Speech is due to set out a new Government's priorities. However, any deals are likely to have been struck before then.

The likelihood of a hung parliament also raises the possibility of a second election being held if none of the parties can reach agreement and no Government can command enough support to get the Queen's Speech through parliament.