Pre-election polls were SO wrong that the screw up is now being investigated

The British Polling Council said there will be an independent inquiry into the polls conducted before the result of British General Election, after Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party defied all predictions and won by a stunning majority victory.

Almost all of the opinion polls going into election day indicated that the Conservatives and Labour were neck and neck in votes. This election was hyped as the tightest race in a generation and it was pretty certain that a coalition would have to be formed as a result.

But that's not what happened.

Early exit polls delivered disappointing results for Labour, which was initially forecast to win 239 seats, way behind projections. The final count was even more damaging to Labour: the Conservatives gained 331 seats to win an overall majority, leaving Labour with just 232 seats.

"The final opinion polls before the election were clearly not as accurate as we would like, and the fact that all the pollsters underestimated the Conservative lead over Labour suggests that the methods that were used should be subject to careful, independent investigation," the polling council said in a statement.

Business Insider's Tomas Hirst has outlined several theories for the discrepancy, including faulty methodology and a higher turnout in Scotland than expected.

NOW WATCH: Here's how President Obama starts every morning

Please enable Javascript to watch this video