Nick Clegg has lost his Sheffield Hallam seat to his Labour challenger Jared O’Mara by 2,125 votes.
The former Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister told HuffPost UK just two days ago he did not want to just “bugger off” from parliament and wanted to help rebuild the party.
However O’Mara beat Clegg by 21,881 votes to 19,756.
In his concession speech, Clegg warned the United Kingdom was “deeply divided” ahead of the Brexit negotiations and urged MPs from all parties to “reach out to each other too try and find common ground”.
At the same time, Vince Cable was celebrating his return to parliament by recapturing his Twickenham seat which he lost to the Conservatives in 2015.
Former Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson is also heading back to Westminster after regaining East Dunbartonshire from the SNP.
If the election result matches the exit poll, then Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election has disastrously backfired.
According to the BBC/Sky News/ITV poll conducted by NOP/Ipsos MORI, the Conservatives will win 322 seats, Labour 261, the SNP 32 and the Lib Dems 13.
It would leave May short of an overall majority and leave the UK with a hung parliament.