The Tories said "further progress" has been made towards deciding if David Cameron can seal a deal to take him to No 10 as they left power-sharing talks with the Liberal Democrats.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague, speaking after 90 minutes of negotiations at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, said: "We have made further progress in our meeting with the Liberal Democrats this morning. We are now going to report back to David Cameron again, and have meetings with our parliamentary colleagues. The negotiating team are working really well together."

Lib Dem negotiator Danny Alexander also said "good progress" had been made as his delegation left the talks to update party leader Nick Clegg.

Mr Hague, with shadow chancellor George Osborne and party policy chief Oliver Letwin, then crossed the road to Parliament, where a growing number of MPs of all parties were gathering.

Earlier, Mr Clegg, speaking outside his London home, said: "I don't think a prolonged period of uncertainty is a good thing. That's why we want to arrive at a decision as soon as possible. But I hope people equally understand that it would be better to get the decision right rather than rushing into something which won't stand the test of time."

He added: "Throughout this process, we continue to be guided by our ambitions and objectives of bringing stability to the British economy and introducing the big changes of tax reform, in our schools system, the way our economy is run and the way our political system is organised."

On Sunday night, David Cameron held his second face-to-face talks with Mr Clegg in the space of 24 hours as the Tory leader appeared to be inching closer to Number 10. That meeting followed a marathon session, lasting more than six and a half hours, between the Tory and Lib Dem negotiators on Sunday.

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg also had a 30-minute phone conversation to discuss progress in the talks between their parties. A senior Lib Dem source said: "The conversation was positive and constructive."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is facing an increasing clamour from his own MPs to step down, met some of his most senior lieutenants, including Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman.

It appeared on Sunday night that Mr Brown had not given up his slender hopes of retaining Labour's grip on power after it emerged he had held a secret meeting with Mr Clegg.

Both sides were playing down the significance of their discussion, at the Foreign Office, describing them as "amicable" but stressing that the two men were simply updating each other on the latest situation.