LONDON, Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
The survey taken at UK polling stations suggests the Tories will get 368 MPs – 50 more than at the 2017 election – when all the results have been counted.
Labour would get 191, the Lib Dems 13, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.
In one of the first seats to declare, the Conservatives took Blyth Valley in north-east England from Labour.
This is the first time the former mining area, which voted Leave in the EU referendum, will have a Conservative MP – NHS worker Ian Levy.
The handful of results so far were broadly in line with the exit poll, which was conducted by Ipsos Mori at 144 polling stations, with 22,790 interviews, polling expert Sir John Curtice told BBC News.
Labour’s vote is predicted to be nearly 12% down on the 2017 general election, with the Conservatives up 2.5% and the smaller parties having a better night.
The pound surged against the dollar after the exit poll figures were announced as polls closed at 22:00 GMT, with sterling gaining 3% to $1.35 – its highest level since May last year. The pound also jumped to a three-and-a-half-year high against the euro.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the government will move quickly to “get Brexit done” before Christmas by introducing legislation in Parliament, if it is returned to power.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC the exit poll was “extremely disappointing” for Labour if it was correct.
“I thought it would be closer,” he said, and he blamed what he called a “Brexit election,” when Labour had been hoping “other issues could cut through”.
It would be the biggest Conservative victory since 1987 and Labour’s worst result since 1935, the poll suggests, with the party forecast to lose 71 seats.
Downing Street said in a statement that if the exit poll is correct, there will be a minor cabinet reshuffle on Monday.
The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, paving the way for Brexit on Jan 31, would have its second Commons reading on Friday, Dec 20.
A major reshuffle would take place in February, after the UK has left the EU, No 10 added, with a Budget statement in March.
This is the UK’s third general election in less than five years – and the first one to take place in December in nearly 100 years – and has been dominated by Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. — NNN-AGENCIES
