British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party will win a majority of 86 seats in Britain’s election, giving him the numbers in Parliament he needs to deliver Brexit on Jan. 31, an exit poll indicated on Thursday.Left: Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at a polling station at the Methodist Central Hall in London to vote in the general election on Dec. 12, 2019. Right: Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at a polling station in London to vote. (Thomas Mukoya, Hannah McKay/Reuters)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party will win a majority of 86 seats in Britain’s election, giving him the numbers in Parliament he needs to deliver Brexit on Jan. 31, an exit poll indicated on Thursday. The exit poll showed Johnson’s Conservatives would win 368 seats, enough for a comfortable outright majority in the 650-seat Parliament. Labour were forecast to win 191 seats, the Scottish National Party 55 seats and the Liberal Democrats 13. Official results will be declared over the next seven hours. In the last five national elections, only one exit poll has got the outcome wrong — in 2015 when the poll predicted a hung Parliament when in fact the Conservatives won a majority, taking 14 more seats than forecast. British Election Exit Poll: prediction big win for Conservatives, with 368 seats, with only 191 for Labour.—@CBCChrisBrown BBC exit poll is predicting a conservative majority of 86 seats – biggest majority since 1987 #ukelection—@rfilippone In an email to party members after the exit poll result, Johnson said, “I hope you enjoy a celebration tonight. … You powered this campaign. We couldn’t have done it without you.” 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. pic.twitter.com/1MuEMXqWHq—@BorisJohnson Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage said Britain would leave the European Union if Boris Johnson’s Conservatives win the majority forecast in the exit poll, but it may not be the hard Brexit he had spent his political career campaigning for. “We are going to get Brexit. Are we going to get the right one? Maybe not,” he told BBC TV. “My purpose was to try to get the right kind of Brexit. If we get half a loaf out of it, well that’s what we’ve achieved.” Former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said if the exit poll is accurate, this would be an “absolutely dramatic” victory. “That would be a phenomenal victory for the Conservative Party and Boris Johnson will feel completely vindicated with the gamble that he took,” he said. The chair of the Conservative Party advised caution at the early exit poll result. “We’ve seen over a number of electoral events in the last few years they’ve called it wrong,” James Cleverly said. “I’ve been cautious of poll results when they look good, I’m cautious of poll results when they look bad. So we’ll see how the seats actually roll out before we get too excited. “If, big if, the numbers play out as per that exit poll then that is numerically a big majority, but we’ll want to see if it plays out.” Labour Party candidate Barry Gardiner said if the result reflects the exit poll, “it is a devastating result for us.” If the exit poll is accurate and Johnson’s bet on a snap election has paid off, he will move swiftly to ratify the Brexit deal he struck with the European Union so that the United Kingdom can leave on Jan. 31 — 10 months later than initially planned. Brexit far from over Johnson called the first Christmas election since 1923 to break what he said was the paralysis of Britain’s political system after more than three years of crisis over how, when or even if to leave the European Union. The face of the “Leave” campaign in the 2016 referendum, 55-year-old Johnson fought the election under the slogan of “Get Brexit Done,” promising to end the deadlock and spend more on health, education and the police. The exit poll was produced by three broadcasters — the BBC, ITV and Sky — who teamed up to jointly produce similar surveys in the last three elections, held in 2010, 2015 and 2017. In 2010 and 2017, their exit polls accurately predicted the overall outcome and were close to forecasting the correct number of seats for the two main parties. Johnson’s strategy was to breach Labour’s so-called “Red Wall” of seats across the pro-Brexit areas of the Midlands and northern England, where he cast his political opponents as the out-of-touch enemies of Brexit. While a majority will allow Johnson to lead the United Kingdom out of the club it first joined in 1973, Brexit is far from over: He faces the daunting task of negotiating a trade agreement with the EU in just 11 months. After Jan. 31 Britain will enter a transition period during which it will negotiate a new relationship with the remaining 27 EU states. This can run until the end of December 2022 under the current rules, but the Conservatives made an election promise not to extend the transition period beyond the end of 2020.
U.K. Conservatives poised to win majority government: exit poll | CBC News
