General Election 2019: Exit poll predicts Conservative majority as Labour set to suffer heavy losses
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The BBC/Sky/ITV poll suggested the Conservative party would win 368 seats, 42 above the 326 needed for an absolute majority in the House of Commons.
This would give the Tories a majority of 86.
If borne out by the actual results, the Prime Minister will return to Number 10 on Friday with a considerable majority which will, in theory, enable him to drive through his Brexit deal and take the UK out of the European Union next month.
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Hide AdIt would represent the largest majority for a Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
The result will be seen as a triumph for his tightly-controlled election campaign, which was largely gaffe-free until the final week.
It will, however, be a significant set-back for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who will have twice led his party to defeat at the polls.
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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Hide AdLabour, who had 243 MPs when Parliament was dissolved last month, is forecast to have lost 52 seats.
Such a poor result would be the worst for Labour in terms of seats since 1935 and would put extreme pressure on the party's leader to stand down after losing a second General Election in a row.
In a tweet sent as the polls closed, Mr Corbyn thanked activists.
"You're the heart of our party, and you have campaigned tirelessly to win so we can a build a fairer country. I thank you all."
The pound soared against the dollar and the euro as the exit poll emerged. A pound was up 1.85% to 1.342 dollars and up 1.09% to 1.202 euros within minutes of the announcement.