British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a decisive majority in Thursday’s general election, a stunning victory for the Brexit cheerleader that paves the way for the U.K. Parliament to trigger a long-delayed split with the European Union.
Mr. Johnson’s Conservatives secured a majority in Britain’s 650-seat House of Commons, the party’s strongest performance at an election since 1987. With two seats yet to be declared, the party had won 363 seats, 78 more than all the others combined.
The scale of the victory makes it all but certain that Britain will leave the EU at the end of next month, completing a divorce that was backed by voters in a 2016 referendum but that has been bogged down in the country’s Parliament for more than three years.
It also signals a once-in-a-generation realignment of Britain’s electoral map, with scores of long-held working-class seats in England and Wales switching to the Conservatives.
That puts Britain in line with a host of other Western countries, including the U.S., where shifting voter loyalties since the financial crash of 2008 have changed the political landscape.
U.K. Election Results Seats per party Source: BBC Notes: 326 seats represent a majority. As of 2:40 a.m. ET. 648 of 650 counted.
New Parliament Departing Parliament Conservative Labour Scottish National Party Liberal Democrat Others seats 326N ew Parliament Conservative 363 seats
Speaking after being re-elected in his district in west London, Mr. Johnson hailed the results as “historic” and suggested his government “has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.”
In a victory speech to supporters, he struck a conciliatory tone, acknowledging that his triumph had in part been based on the support of people who had only “lent” their votes to him.
He set out a program designed to retain their backing, pledging to invest heavily in the National Health Service, education and tackling climate change.
“We will never take your support for granted,” he said.
He also promised that the U.K. would leave the EU by the end of January 2020, with “no ifs, no buts.”
The main opposition Labour Party was on track to score its worst election performance since 1935, with a tally of 203 seats. The outcome appeared to sink the leadership of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who campaigned on the party’s most left-wing manifesto in decades with proposals for large increases in government spending the and nationalization of key industries. Early on Friday, he said he wouldn’t run in the next election but would remain at the helm of his party during a period of “reflection and discussion” as it transitions to a new leader.
President Trump congratulated Mr. Johnson on his victory early Friday. “Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the EU.”
For Mr. Johnson, the result vindicates a bold transformation of his Conservative Party into a political machine that could appeal to voters spanning from the landed gentry to the working class.
He promised extra government spending to reverse some of the effects of a decade of public belt-tightening since the financial crash. But his triumph came largely on the back of a simple message that a vote for the Conservatives would “Get Brexit Done.”
That Brexit appeal flipped districts long considered Labour bastions. For its first gain of the evening, Mr. Johnson’s party took Blyth Valley, a former coal-mining district in England’s northeast, a seat that had been held by Labour since 1950. Later, his party won Leigh, a Labour district that was ravaged by spending cuts under previous Conservative governments. Meanwhile, the Conservatives managed to hold on to seats in areas of the country, such as Kensington in London, that backed staying in the EU.
“Brexit has dominated, we thought other issues could cut through,” said John McDonnell, a leading Labour lawmaker. “But they haven’t.” He said the results, if correct, were “extremely disappointing.”
Voter turnout in U.K. parliamentary electionsand the 2016 Brexit voteSource: U.K. Parliament (elections), ElectoralCommission (Brexit vote); BBC (2019)
%Median turnout1965’80’95’1050556065707580May 6, 2010×65%
The picture was different in Scotland, where the pro-independence Scottish National Party winning 48 of the country’s 59 seats, a gain of 13 districts. That outcome likely puts Scottish independence back on the political agenda.
The leader of the pro-EU Liberal Democratic Party, Jo Swinson, resigned after losing her seat in Scotland to the SNP.
There were also significant shifts in the balance of power in Northern Ireland, which is a part of the U.K.
For the first time, the region elected more lawmakers who favor unification with Ireland than those who support continued membership of the U.K. The number of nationalists elected to Parliament rose to nine from six, while the number of unionists fell to eight from 10. The Democratic Unionist Party, which backs Brexit and had supported the Conservatives in Parliament, lost two seats.
The British pound rose sharply late Thursday as the first exit poll was released, surging 2.5% against the dollar and reaching its highest level since May 2018.
The vote marks a remarkable turnaround for Mr. Johnson, who in the space of five months renegotiated a Brexit divorce deal with the EU and rallied his divided party and Britain’s exasperated voters behind it.
