After a disastrous night for Labour and the Liberal Democrats, David Cameron has returned to Downing Street as prime minister.

The Conservatives have pledged to hold an in-out referendum on the UK¡¯s EU membership by 2017.

Universities UK is likely to campaign against an exit. The organisation has previously argued that UK universities benefit from ?1.2 billion a year in European research income. ?

On funding, Vince Cable, the former Lib Dem business secretary who lost his Twickenham seat to the Tories last night, had previously warned that a Conservative government could raise fees ¡°significantly¡± after 2015.

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Former Tory leader William Hague said this week that a rise in fees in the next Parliament had not been ruled out.

On immigration, the?Tory says the party would ¡°keep our ambition of delivering annual net migration in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands¡±, a policy that has previously brought claims from UK universities that overseas student recruitment is being harmed.

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The manifesto also says a Tory government would ¡°reform the student visa system with new measures to tackle abuse and reduce the numbers of students overstaying once their visas expire¡±.

The manifesto pledges to ¡°ensure that universities deliver the best possible value for money to students¡±. It commits to ¡°introduce a framework to recognise universities offering the highest teaching quality¡± and ¡°require more data to be openly available to potential students so that they can make decisions informed by the career paths of past graduates¡±.

On research funding, the manifesto says: ¡°Through the Nurse Review of research councils, we will seek to ensure that the UK continues to support world-leading science, and invests public money in the best possible way.¡±

john.morgan@tesglobal.com