REJOICE! BORIS SET FOR THUMPING WIN
TORIES HEAD FOR 86 MAJORITY IN EXIT POLL SENSATION
BORIS Johnson was last night on course for an emphatic election victory that will finally see Brexit delivered.
A major exit poll, released at 10pm, predicted that the Conservatives would secure a huge majority
of 86 – larger than Margaret Thatcher’s first victory in 1979.
The bombshell poll forecast that the Tories would win 368 seats, with Labour on 191 and the Liberal Democrats on 13.
If confirmed, the result would put Mr Johnson back in No 10 and pave the way for the UK to finally leave the EU on January 31.
The predicted Tory victory is the biggest since 1987. By contrast, Labour’s result would be its worst since 1935, eclipsing Michael Foot’s disastrous 1983 result, with voters delivering a humiliating verdict on Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of socialism.
The exit poll suggested that Mr Johnson’s
pledge to ‘Get Brexit Done’ had smashed through the so-called Red Wall of traditional Labour strongholds in the North and Midlands, with seats such as Workington, Grimsby and Bolsover – home to veteran MP Dennis Skinner – set to tumble.
Such a huge Tory win would also be the death knell for the campaign for a
second referendum, which Mr Johnson has vowed he will never hold. It will also free Mr Johnson from the grip of his party’s hardliners as he begins the second phase of Brexit negotiations.
The poll result deals a shattering blow to Mr Corbyn, who was under intense pressure to quit this morning after losing two consecutive elections on a hard-Left prospectus. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell appeared close to tears as the details of the exit poll sunk in. He said the results were ‘extremely disappointing’ and suggested Mr Corbyn could resign today.
Former Labour minister Caroline Flint, who was forecast to lose her Don Valley seat, said the leadership had taken the party’s heartlands ‘’for granted’.
Jo Swinson is also under pressure to bring her five-month reign as Lib Dem leader to an end after her flagship pledge to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit backfired spectacularly. The exit poll suggested she could even lose her East Dunbartonshire seat on a night when the SNP looked set to make sweeping gains across Scotland. On a dramatic night: The pound soared by 3 per cent as markets welcomed the certainty about Brexit and the rejection of Mr Corbyn’s economic agenda;
In the first shock of the night, the Tories seized Blyth Valley in Northumberland
for the first time since 1950 – taking a former mining community where Labour had a majority of almost 8,000;
Labour frontbenchers were ordered to blame the result ‘overwhelmingly’ on Brexit, playing down the disastrous role played by Mr Corbyn;
The SNP was forecast to win 55 of Scotland’s 59 seats, piling on pressure for a second independence referendum that could break up the UK;
Nigel Farage risked ridicule by claiming credit for the result, despite revealing he had spoiled his ballot paper;
Members of the Jewish community celebrated Mr Corbyn’s humiliation, with Countdown host Rachel Riley tweeting: ‘Love you, Britain.’
The result looks set to be a vindication for Mr Johnson’s decision to force a snap election to break the Brexit paralysis that has gripped Parliament for three and a half years.
Mr Johnson heard the exit poll results in his No 10 study accompanied by chief adviser Dominic Cummings and his closest aides. A source said: ‘There was a moment of pause while everyone took it in, then a moment of jubilation.’
Mr Johnson, who gave up alcohol for the campaign, did not have a celebratory drink, telling aides he could not celebrate properly until Brexit had been delivered.
On Twitter, the PM said: ‘Thank you to everyone across our great country who voted, who volunteered, who stood as candidates. We live in the greatest democracy in the world.’ The Prime Minister’s brother Jo, who quit the government over Brexit, congratulated him on a ‘staggering’ result.
He told ITV: ‘I was an outlier in our nuclear family because I was predicting a majority of 40 and I was told I was being wildly optimistic, so to get a potential majority of 86 is truly mind-blowing.’
Tory sources said the Prime Minister will press ahead with a Queen’s Speech next Thursday. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which puts in law Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal, will be brought to Parliament before Christmas.
MPs could even be asked to sit on the Saturday before Christmas, although the legislation will not complete its passage through Parliament until next month.
A senior Tory source said last night: ‘Every candidate has signed up to the Brexit deal, so that will go through next month and we will leave the EU as we have promised. And the whole atmosphere will change. A lot of the diehard Remainers who never accepted the referendum result will have gone – Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, Justine Greening – they’re not going to be there any more. We can finally move on.’
Labour was left reeling last night after voters rejected Mr Corbyn’s Brexit dithering and the possibility of a nightmare coalition with Nicola Sturgeon.
Former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: ‘I never dreamt for a moment we would go under 200 seats... it’s Corbyn. We knew he was incapable of leading, and worse than useless at leading a political party.’
Miss Flint said: ‘ We’re going to hear the Corbynistas blame it on Brexit and the Labour uberRemainers blaming Corbyn. Both are to blame for what looks like a terrible night for Labour. Both have taken for granted Labour’s heartlands. Sorry we couldn’t offer you a Labour Party you could trust.’
‘We can finally move on’