‘Get Brexit Done!’ – three words that swung the election of a generation.
With the largest majority government since Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives will remain in power with Boris Johnson at the helm as the UK’s prime minister.
It’s a landslide victory – the biggest for the Tories since 1987 – and Labour’s worst loss since 1937. The result will come as a blow to Jeremy Corbyn, whose neutral strategy on Brexit and promises of life-changing public spending failed to chime with voters.
The results are as follows: Conservatives – 362; Labour – 203; SNP – 48; Liberal Democrats – 11; DUP – 8; Other – 15.
After being re-elected in Uxbridge, west London, Johnson said as per BBC News:
It does look as though this One Nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.
Above all I want to thank the people of this country for turning out to vote in a December election that we didn’t want to call but which I think has turned 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.
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to congratulate Johnson on the win, writing: ‘Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT.’
Corbyn has already he confirmed he won’t lead the party in the next election – although he plans to retain his position for a period of reflection in the aftermath of the results.
After securing re-election in Islington North, albeit with a reduced majority, Corbyn said:
Brexit has so polarised debate it has overridden so much of normal political debate.
It’s Labour’s worst loss since the Second World War, easily attributed to Johnson’s efforts in turning the reds to blues with simple but evidently effective Brexit messaging.
In Wales, Labour lost six seats to the Conservatives including Wrexham, which had been a safe Labour seat since 1935.
In England, key losses for the party came in Darlington, Sedgefield and Workington, with Tory MPs for the first time in decades, as well as Bishop Auckland and Blyth Valley, with staggering inaugural Conservative majorities.
Talking to the BBC following the prescient exit poll, Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said:
I think Brexit has dominated, it has dominated everything by the looks of it. We thought other issues could cut through and there would be a wider debate, from this evidence there clearly wasn’t.
With a seismic Tory majority, any chance of a secondary referendum regarding a Brexit deal has vanished. Johnson now holds a tremendous amount of power, enabled to pass any sort of deal he deems acceptable.
As we now barrel towards the Brexit deadline on January 31, the Withdrawal Agreement Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons next Friday, December 20.
However, it was a stunning turnout for the SNP in Scotland, sweeping the country with a 48-seat yield. The party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has long canvassed against Brexit proceedings – considering not a single constituency in Scotland had a majority Leave vote back in 2017.
Sturgeon said:
I was expecting a good performance. I think the results we are seeing somewhat exceed the expectations I had.
Scotland has sent a very clear message – we don’t want a Boris Johnson government, we don’t want to leave the EU. The results across the rest of the UK are grim but underlines the importance of Scotland having a choice.
Boris Johnson has a mandate to take England out of the EU but he must accept that I have a mandate to give Scotland a choice for an alternative future.
The SNP’s dominance will be felt most by Lib Dems leader Jo Swinson, who lost her Dunbartonshire East seat by just 149 votes. Following the loss, she said: ‘Let me say now, for millions of people in our country these results will bring dread and dismay and people are looking for hope.’
A Tory majority of this magnitude under Johnson leadership will accelerate actions to secure a second independence referendum. Although tensions will surely heighten between the two leaders, Johnson is unlikely to grant it anytime soon.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.