Tories win General Election on disastrous night for Labour
Richard Hartley-Parkinson for Metro.co.uk
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The Conservatives have officially been declared winners of the General Election after crossing the 326-seat threshold.
On an eventful night that saw the Labour vote collapse, Boris Johnson will continue as Prime Minister describing the victory as a ‘powerful mandate to get Brexit done.
Jeremy Corbyn conceded defeat, saying he would not be leading the Labour party into the next General Election following the collapse of the so-called red wall.
He said he would leave after a notice period of reflection. Labour peer Andrew Adonis tweeted: ‘I think the “period of reflection” required to assess the need for new leadership of the Labour Party should be about ten minutes.’
Mr Johnson faced fierce competition from the Labour party, but they were unable to unseat him and he was elected with an increased majority of 7,210.
Mr Johnson was joined by his partner Carrie Symonds and their dog Dilyn at the Indoor Athletics Centre at Brunel University London, in Uxbridge.
Dilyn did not seem phased by the rowdy atmosphere as he was seen yawning minutes before the result was announced, despite being surrounded by photographers.
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In his acceptance speech, Mr Johnson said: ‘I don’t want to tempt fate because clearly lots of results are still coming in and we’re still only dealing with projections but at this stage it does look as though this one nation Conservative Government has been given a powerful new mandate – to get Brexit done.’
The Conservative Party leader went on: ‘And not just to get Brexit done, but to unite this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities of the British people, and above all, on the NHS.’
He repeated campaign slogans on nurses, GPs and hospitals before adding: ‘And I am grateful, I am grateful once again, to the people of Uxbridge and South Ruislip for returning me to serve you.
‘It is an absolute privilege to do this job and to work for you.’
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Mr Milani described it as a ‘disappointing result’ for Labour, adding: ‘Change is coming, it’s just not coming today.’
The first loss for Labour to the Conservatives came with a 10 per cent swing in Blythe Valley, which has only ever been a Labour seat and setting the tone for the night.
Labour are on course for their biggest loss since 1935 while the Tories are set to have their biggest majority since Margaret Thatcher held power in 1987.
In the early hours of this morning the pound remained strong against the dollar and the euro.
Jeremy Corbyn’s party clung onto several North East seats include Newcastle Central, Sunderland Central, Newcastle-upon-Tyne East and Houghton and Sunderland South, but with much reduced majorities.
The Prime Minister greeted early victory indications by tweeting: ‘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.’
Mr Johnson will return to Number 10 today in a position to easily drive through his Brexit deal and take the UK out of the European Union next month.
Mr Johnson entered the election without a majority, having just 298 Tory MPs, after some quit the party and he withdrew the whip from others when they rebelled over Brexit.
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Labour, who had 243 MPs when Parliament was dissolved last month, was forecast to lose 52 seats.
Such a poor result would be the worst for Labour in terms of seats since 1935 and would put extreme pressure on Mr Corbyn to stand down after losing a second General Election in a row.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the exit poll was ‘extremely disappointing’.
And shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said it represented a ‘devastating result for us’ and ‘all the people who were really needing a Labour victory to improve their lives’.
Asked if his party needed a new leader, Mr Gardiner said: ‘These are things that will be discussed by the leadership of the party in the next few days.’
