PM Johnson’s Conservative party sweeps UK snap polls
13 Dec 2019
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has ensured a landslide win at Thursday’s snap general election with official results showing that the Conservatives have won 361 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons.
The Conservatives were forecast to win a thumping 368 out of 650 seats in parliament - the party's biggest majority in three decades - according to the survey published as polls closed.
By 6:30am (06:30 GMT) today, with results in five seats still to be declared, the Conservatives have secured 361 seats. Voter turnout was about 67 per cent.
The Conservatives' performance points to a major realignment of Britain's political map post-Brexit and paves the way for Johnson to take the UK out of the EU by the end of next month.
Johnson also acknowledged the voters mood, saying they appeared to have given his government a "powerful new mandate to get Brexit done".
Speaking at his London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the early hours of Friday, Johnson said, "I think this will turn out to be a historic election that gives us now, in this new government, the chance to respect the democratic will of the British people, to change this country for the better and to unleash the potential of the entire people of this country."
More than 45 million voters were registered to take part in the poll, the UK's third since 2015.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, announced he would not be heading another election campaign after Thursday's crushing defeat.
Labour had won 203 seats as of the count at 6:30am (06:30 GMT).
The pound has surged after exit polls showed Boris Johnson’s Conservatives were on track for the biggest majority in more than 30 years, as investors in the City bet the outcome would lift some of the intense political uncertainty hanging over the British economy.
Immediately after publication of the exit poll, which showed the Tories were on track for a majority of 86, sterling jumped by more than two cents against the US dollar to trade at about $1.35 on the international money markets. That was the highest level for the pound since May 2018. The pound also rallied strongly against the euro, gaining by a similar amount to €1.21.
The FTSE 100 share index is expected to be relatively flat at the start of trading, with futures pointing to a 0.2 per cent.
Multinational companies, which make up the bulk of the blue chip index, tend to benefit when the pound is weaker, as it boosts the value of their overseas income. The opposite tends to be true when sterling strengthens against foreign currencies.
