Donald Trump wins key swing states of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina as he appears to head towards the White House

Hatty Collier9 November 2016

The US presidential race was all but won by Donald Trump this morning after a night which confounded almost all experts' predictions.

Overnight, the Republican scored wins in three swing states which were likely to prove key to unlocking the front door of the White House.

Trump managed to snatch Florida away from the Democrats. It is a crucial victory in the race for him to be President of the United States.

He also scored wins in North Carolina and Ohio.

Jubilation: Donald Trump supporters on election night
Evan Vucci/AP

The Ohio win brought him 18 extra electoral college votes, and the North Carolina win, 15 votes.

Clinton won California and Hawaii, and her campaign manager refused to concede defeat, saying: "Let's get these votes counted and let's bring this home."

An emboldened Trump tweeted a picture of his family and campaign team watching the results come in at Trump Tower in New York.

Bookies had him as 1/4 favourite to be elected US President.

The Republicans also retained control of the House of Representatives, after Democrats made only modest gains.

The Democrats also faced an uphill struggle to win back control of the Senate, meaning a Trump would have a clearer road to pushing through laws as president than his predecessor.

Hillary Clinton's team wrote online: "This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything."

Initial results saw a flurry of Trump wins eclipsed as Clinton picked up several states.

As of 5am UK time, the results stood at 209 electoral college votes for Clinton and 244 for Trump.

A winner needs 270 to be declared President.

As the first results rolled in, Trump claimed victory in reliably Republican Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, while Clinton won liberal Vermont.

Trump won Indiana by 63% to 3% and Kentucky by 65% to 31%.

He won West Virginia by 49% to Clinton's 31%.

But Clinton then came back with a flurry of victories, picking up Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are two of the nation's safest Democratic strongholds. New Jersey has been a safe Democrat state for 20 years.

Trump also took Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.

Jubilant Donald Trump supporters

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Clinton then took Rhode Island putting her ahead by two Electoral College votes just before 2am UK time.

Hillary Clinton v Donald Trump: US Presidential Election

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Trump then surged back into the lead, claiming victory in Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska, Arkansas and Texas.

Clinton stormed to victory in New York where both the Democrat candidate and her rival were watching the election results unfold.

The Republican was at Trump Tower with his family, while Clinton was watching from a nearby hotel.

An exit poll suggested a lack of enthusiasm for either candidate with only 42% saying they "strongly favoured" the politician they backed at the ballot box.

Despite repeated claims by the Trump camp that the election was rigged, there were few reports of polling problems apart from the usual machine breakdowns and queues.

In a presidential campaign that has focused more on the character of the candidates than on policy, Clinton and Trump have repeatedly accused each other of being fundamentally unfit to lead the country.

Trump again raised the possibility on Tuesday of not accepting the election’s outcome saying he has seen reports of voting irregularities. But he gave few details and reporters have not been able to verify the existence of such problems.

This story is being updated.

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