‘Now we WILL get Brexit done’: Boris Johnson hails huge Tory victory as election results puts him on track for SEVENTY-FOUR majority – as Jeremy Corbyn announces he is on way out after worst Labour result since 1935
- Exit poll has given the first indication of results after ballot boxes closed in biggest election for a generation
- The prediction shows voters handing the Tories a whopping 362 seats with Labour collapsing to just 199
- The result would mean a huge 74 Commons majority and be the worst Labour showing in modern history
- Early results in Labour strongholds in the North East have borne out early signs of a swing to Conservatives
- Tories pulled off jaw-dropping results in constituencies like Workington, Blythe Valley and Bishop Auckland
- There were small crumbs of comfort for Remainers as tactical voting defeated the Conservatives in Putney
- Big Labour names ousted in the rout include Laura Pidcock in North West Durham, touted as a future leader
Boris Johnson hailed a ‘mandate to get Brexit done’ today as he marched his new blue-collar Tory army towards a staggering election landslide.
With Labour’s ‘red wall’ of Leave-backing strongholds imploding, the PM said he had been given a ‘powerful’ vote of confidence by the British people.
The speech at his count in Uxbridge and South Ruislip came with experts forecasting the Conservatives are on track to rack up 362 seats in the first December election for nearly a century, with Labour collapsing to 199 – down 63 on 2017. The Tories formally crossed the winning line of 325 seats just after 5am.
Jeremy Corbyn announced this morning that he will quit as leader in the wake of the humiliation, swiping at ‘disgusting’ media attacks on him, saying he still believed his hard-Left platform was ‘popular’, and blaming Brexit for preventing ‘normal political debate’. However, he made clear he would stay on for a period of ‘reflection’ while a replacement was selected.
The bombshell numbers would give Mr Johnson a huge Commons majority of 74, the biggest since Margaret Thatcher’s third victory in 1987, and more than enough to fulfill his vow to ‘get Brexit done’.
By contrast Mr Corbyn looks to have stewarded his party to its worst performance since 1935 and plunged it into a seething civil war – despite his allies claiming earlier that high turnout might have helped him pull off a surprise.
In another moment of high drama, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson suffered the ultimate humiliation of losing her own East Dunbartonshire seat. And ironically the party’s Brexit spokesman Tom Brake lost his Carshalton base to the Tories.
As a delighted Donald Trump tweeted that it was ‘looking like a big win’, Mr Johnson told rapturous supporters, including girlfriend Carrie and their dog Dilyn, that he had not wanted to call the December election but the outcome was ‘historic’.
‘Clearly lots of results are still coming in and we’re still mainly dealing with projections but at this stage it does look as though this One Nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.
‘And not just to get Brexit done, but to untie this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities of the British people, and above all, on the NHS.’
The Conservatives pulled off a massive coup by securing the symbolic swing constituency of Workington, overturning a 3,000 majority to triumph by 4,000 votes with a 10 per cent swing.
They also overturned an 8,000 majority to rip the former mining area of Blythe Valley in Northumberland from Labour’s grip for the first time ever. The party’s candidate won by 700 votes after securing an incredible 10.2 per cent swing in what was theoretically only 85th on the target list.
There were jaw-dropping gains in Bishop Auckland – which had never elected a Conservative MP in 134 years – and Tony Blair’s old stronghold of Sedgefield.
Left-wing ‘Beast of Bolsover’ Dennis Skinner was ejected from the seat he has held since 1970, as Mr Johnson flipped huge swathes of the country from deep red to Tory blue.
Other fortresses to fall included Leigh, Darlington, Wakefield, Stockton South, Redcar – which saw a 15.5 per cent swing – Peterborough, Wrexham and the Vale of Clywd.
As the political map was redrawn in a few tumultuous hours, places like Jarrow, Houghton & Sunderland South, Sunderland Central, and Newcastle Upon-Tyne Central saw enormous movements from Labour to the Conservatives – although the party clung on.
A pattern was emerging of Brexit Party candidates draining votes from Labour in its northern heartlands, while Tory support held steady.
In a few crumbs of comfort for Remainers, Cabinet minister Zac Goldsmith lost to the Lib Dems in the heavily Remain seat of Richmond Park.
Putney was taken from the Conservatives by Labour thanks to tactical voting by Lib Dem supporters. And Labour’s Rosie Duffield kept hold of Canterbury – one of its marquee captures from the 2017 poll.
However, a cross-party bid to eject Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Esher & Walton and Tory ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford and Wood Green failed. And Kensington was painted blue again, having briefly been held by Labour’s Emma Dent Coad.
There were scenes of jubilation in CCHQ as the exit poll was unveiled at 10pm, with staff singing and dancing following a month of brutal political struggle as Mr Corbyn tried desperately to sell his hard-Left agenda to the UK public.
The initial exit poll suggested the Tories were going to do even better, with 368 seats and Labour collapsing to 191.
However, the numbers were scaled back a bit as more actual results came through.
The SNP are predicted to get 55 MPs – approaching a clean sweep in Scotland – and the Lib Dems have effectively stalled on 13 after a dismal all-out Remain campaign.
For Mr Corbyn his dream of a Socialist Britain is now in ruins, with his time in charge of the party coming crashing to an end.
If confirmed, Labour’s tally of 201 would be worse than the showing by his hero Michael Foot, who was famously put to the sword by Thatcher with just 209 seat in 1983.
Source: dailymail
