Polls have now closed in the United Kingdom. BBC News has posted its first exit poll. Result? A hung parliament with no party having an absolute majority. The poll has Conservatives as the largest party, however.

Exit poll numbers: Conservatives 307, Labour 255, Others 29. 326 needed to win.

That’s an exit poll and not actual results, so things can obviously change. Labour may hold its power. Conservatives may gain an absolute majority. And what will happen with Liberal Democrats? Stay tuned.

Update: First solid results are expected at 10:43 PM local, or 5:43 PM ET.

Update X2: Peter Mandelson of Labour is actually spinning a hung Parliament as good news. He’s spinning it as a voter rejection of David Cameron, whose party gained about, oh, 97 seats if the exit poll is true.

It seems Labour and Liberal Democrats are going to try to come to a compromise and form a coalition government to keep Brown in power. Conservatives have to gain an absolute majority (326 seats) to prevent that. Otherwise there’s a hung Parliament for the first time since the 1970s.

Update X3: Sunderland South goes to Labour but it’s a swing of 8.4%, so apparently that bodes well for Conservatives.