UK polls: Boris Johnson's party set for big win

December 13, 2019 08:34

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks set to return to 10 Downing Street with a comfortable majority and a victory for his "Get Brexit Done" message in the general election based on forecasts as early results poured in on Friday.

The first sign of what the results held in store came with a definitive exit poll released at the close of voting at 2200 GMT on Thursday, which predicted the Johnson-led Conservative Party winning 368 seats, with the Labour Party way down at 191 in a predominantly Tory blue versus Labour red contest.

The forecast not only pegged the Tories way past the 326-mark required for the all-important majority in the 650-member House of Commons, but also meant Johnson's so-called divorce agreement struck with the European Union to take the United Kingdom out of the 28-member economic bloc set to be turbo-charged to go full speed ahead.

"This has been a hard-fought election in a very cold time of the year because we needed a functioning Conservative majority," said Priti Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin minister in Johnson's last Cabinet, in response to the exit poll.

"We are committed to deliver on priorities and getting Brexit done is a priority. The deal is there, we want to move forward," she said.

The Opposition Labour Party, which looked set for one of its worst performances since 1935 as the so-called "red wall" of the party's heartlands towards the north of England looked set for significant knockdowns, conceded that voters seemed to have voted strongly on the basis of Brexit.

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