Ukip has suffered a collapse in its vote, with many people who backed the Eurosceptic party in 2015 switching to the Tories or Labour.
Early results saw the party's vote down by around 13 per cent on 2015, when under Nigel Farage it secured a 12.6 per cent share of the national vote.
Pressure will increase on Ukip leader Paul Nuttall if the party's vote share does not improve as further results come in, particularly if he fails in his second attempt this year to secure a Commons seat.
Mr Nuttall, who is standing in Boston and Skegness, failed to enter Parliament in the Stoke Central by-election in February.
Former party leader Mr Farage insisted that Ukip could benefit if - as an exit poll predicted - the country faces a hung parliament.
He told LBC Radio: "If the result of this tonight is that we finish up without a government with a clear majority pushing for Brexit, then a huge gap opens in the political landscape for Ukip once again."
But he said officials in Brussels "will have looked at the exit polls and be cheering very loudly because right now, if we believe the exit polls, Brexit is under a bit of threat".
Mr Nuttall tweeted: "If the exit poll is true then Theresa May has put Brexit in jeopardy. I said at the start this election was wrong. Hubris."
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