LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s Brexit general election (all times local):
6 a.m.
Veteran Labour Party left-wing firebrand Dennis Skinner has lost his seat in the British election, one of many Labour lawmakers ousted by a Conservative challenger in Boris Johnson’s landslide victory.
The 87-year-old Skinner would have been the longest serving lawmaker in Parliament’s next term – known as the Father of the House -- if he had won Thursday. He was beaten in the traditional Labour stronghold constituency of Bolsover.
The former miner, known for heckling at the State Opening of Parliament and for being ejected from the debating chamber, represented Labour in Parliament for almost 50 years.
In 2016, he was tossed out for calling then-Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservatives “Dodgy Dave.”
Britain’s election was a flat-out disaster for left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who faced calls for his resignation.
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5:30 a.m.
Britain’s election was a flat-out disaster for left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who faced calls for his resignation.
Results pouring in early Friday showed a substantial shift in support to the Conservatives from Labour. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives easily won more than 326 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, ensuring it will form a majority government.
Labour looked set to win around 200 seats, in what could be their worst showing since 1935. In the last election in 2017, the Conservatives won 318 seats and Labour 262.
Corbyn called the result “very disappointing” for his party. He said he would not lead Labour into another election but would stay on as the party reflected on what went wrong.
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5:10 a.m.
Britain’s Conservative Party has reached a total of 326 seats in the House of Commons, ensuring it will form a majority government.
Counts by broadcasters BBC, ITV and Sky News say the party has reached the threshold, with results from dozens of seats still to come.
Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called the election “historic.” He ran on a promise to take Britain out of the European Union by Jan. 31 if he won a majority.
The opposition Labour Party looks set for its worst result in decades, winning roughly 200 seats.
The Conservatives’ “Get Brexit done” message helped them win previously Labour-held seats in parts of the country that voted in 2016 to leave the EU.
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4:55 a.m.
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May says the majority forecast for the Conservative Party in Britain’s election means the country can move on from the political paralysis around Brexit that doomed her leadership.
May told the BBC early Friday that Thursday’s election “was about ensuring we could get over this deadlock in Parliament, get Brexit done and move on.”
May also believes that once her fellow Conservative successor, Boris Johnson, has pushed his Brexit divorce deal through Parliament, he also can secure a trade deal with the European Union by the end of 2020.
She says “actually a lot of work on that has already been done.”
May won her seat in Maidenhead.
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4:30 a.m.
The leader of the Scottish National Party says her party’s gains in the British election give her a “renewed, refreshed, strengthened mandate” to push for a new referendum on Scottish independence.
Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC in early Friday that despite Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party being on course to win a solid majority in Parliament, he has “no right” to take Scotland out of the European Union. Scotland voted overwhelmingly against Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
Sturgeon said Johnson can’t block the Scottish people from “choosing their own future.” She conceded that Johnson now 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.”
Scotland voted against independence five years ago in what was billed as a once-in-a-generation referendum.
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4 a.m.
The leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, has lost her seat in Parliament, while her party is struggling to make election gains.
Swinson was narrowly defeated in her Dunbartonshire East constituency by the Scottish National Party.
The pro-EU Liberal Democrats had high hopes of gaining new seats in Britain’s election because of its strongly pro-EU stance. But so far it looks likely to only win a dozen or so of the 650 House of Commons seats -- fewer than it held before the election.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives are on course to capture a solid majority in Thursday’s vote. Swinson said many people in Britain would feel “dread and dismay” at the election outcome, but that the Liberal Democrats would continue to “stand up for hope.”
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3:50 a.m.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says it looks like his Conservative Party has won “a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done” in the country’s general election.
He says the work of delivering Brexit will begin as soon as all the results are in from Thursday’s vote.
Johnson called the election “historic” as he was announced the winner of his Uxbridge constituency in suburban London. The Conservatives appear to be on course to win a solid majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons.
His main rival, the opposition Labour Party, looked to be facing a notably heavy defeat, losing dozens of seats.
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3:30 a.m.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says Britain’s election result is “very disappointing” for his party, but he is resisting pressure to step down right away.
Corbyn says the divisive issue of Brexit has “contributed to the result.”
Labour is losing seats to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, which is on course to win a solid majority in Parliament.
Many Labour figures are calling on Corbyn to resign. He said early Friday he would not lead the party into another election, but would stay on during a “process of reflection.” Corbyn also accused the media of attacking Labour and contributing to its poor result.
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3:20 a.m.
With results declared for over one-third of the parliamentary seats in Britain, the British media are projecting that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives will easily win a majority in the House of Commons.
The Conservatives are projected to take over 350 seats while the opposition Labour Party will drop to about 200 seats and the Scottish National Party will rise to over 50 seats. It says the pro-EU Liberal Democrats will get 13 to 15 seats and the Brexit Party will get none.
The results should allow Johnson to pull Britain out of the European Union by the Jan. 31 deadline, as he has vowed to do.
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1:25 a.m.
Public policy expert Tony Travers says the exit poll projections for Britain’s election mean that the opposition Labour Party is going to have to get a new leader.
Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics, says it’s “almost inconceivable” that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, 70, could stay on after such a huge projected defeat.
The exit poll predicts Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party likely will win a majority of seats in Parliament and Labour will lose dozens.
Travers says the Labour Party will face “a civil war about what kind of candidate should go forward.” He said some might want a moderate after the far-left Corbyn.
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1:10 a.m.
EU leaders say they are ready to work with the new British leadership on moving ahead with Brexit.
EU Council President Charles Michel promised that EU leaders meeting Friday will send a “strong message” to the next British government and parliament about the next steps on the U.K.’s impending departure from the 28-nation bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “we are ready to negotiate” to get out of the Brexit stalemate of recent months.
They wouldn’t comment on an exit poll projecting that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservatives won a clear majority in Thursday’s election. That result would increase chances that Johnson pulls Britain out of the EU Jan. 31.
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1 a.m.
For Labour supporters at a pub in London, it’s looking like a very long, tough night.
Rachel Rollinson says “at the minute I feel devastated. I feel shocked.” She says to see that we’ve lost something like 70 seats is devastating.”
An exit poll in Britain’s election Thursday projects that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party likely will win a majority of seats in Parliament. The survey predicts the Conservatives will get 368 of the 650 House of Commons seats and the opposition Labour Party 191 seats.
Labour Party candidate Gareth Snell says he expects to lose his seat in Stoke-on-Trent and is blaming the loss on his party’s Brexit strategy and leadership. He says “it’s disastrous, the exit poll is a catastrophe for the Labour Party.”
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12:35 a.m.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson campaigned on one theme alone — “Get Brexit done” — and if the results of an exit poll projection are correct, that just may happen.
The U.K. exit poll predicts that Johnson’s Conservatives won a substantial victory Thursday night in the country’s general election.
But even if Johnson pulls Britain out of the European Union by the Jan. 31 deadline, he will still face the mountainous task of negotiating a complex trade deal with the EU by the end of next year — a task many experts say is not possible.
Evercore analyst Krishna Guha is warning that that significant Brexit-related risks still loom. Guha says Britain could still crash out of the EU without a trade deal — a so-called hard Brexit — at the end of 2020 if Johnson does not seek an extension of the Brexit transition period.
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11:55 p.m.
In a London pub, Conservative supporters are drinking and cheering following an exit poll that suggests their party will win a majority of seats in the House of Parliament.
Jack Rydeheard, 20, says “I think it’s fantastic. It’s a big relief.” He says the Conservatives could see “the opportunity to get Brexit done and get everything else that we promised.” He says that includes more “investment in the NHS (National Health Service), schools, hospitals, you name it.”
Keith Schofield, a 75-year-old retiree says “we want Brexit to get done.” He says with a majority in Parliament, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a much stronger hand in negotiating with European Union officials over Britain’s Brexit divorce deal.
Britain is now scheduled to leave the European Union on Jan. 31.
11:20 p.m.
France says an exit poll shows the British election appears to have produced the “clarification” needed to move forward with Brexit.
France’s European affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin was asked about an exit poll projecting a clear majority for U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s
Conservatives. She said if the result is confirmed, it will allow EU leaders to move rapidly toward building a new relationship with Britain.
EU leaders will meet Friday morning with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier about next steps regarding Britain’s impending departure from the bloc.
De Montchalin says “the most important thing is not the method of divorce but the new legal framework.” ___
11 p.m.
If the results of a U.K. exit poll are confirmed, Prime Minister Boris Johnson could become the most electorally successful Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher.
The survey was released just after polls closed late Thursday in Britain’s general election. It predicted the Conservatives would get 368 of the 650 House of Commons seats and the Labour Party would get 191. That would be the biggest Tory majority since Thatcher’s 1980s’ heyday and Labour’s lowest seat total since 1935.
That result would be a triumph for Johnson and a disaster for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is facing immediate calls to resign.
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10:45 p.m.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tweeted his thanks to people who participated in Thursday’s national election.
He did not address an U.K. exit poll suggesting that his Conservative Party would likely win a strong majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons Parliament. Official results are not yet in, but if the exit poll is correct, it would be a disastrous result for the opposition Labour Party.
Johnson wrote on Twitter: “Thank you to everyone across our great country who voted, who volunteered, who stood as candidate. we live in the greatest democracy in the world.”
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10:35 p.m.
Britain’s opposition Labour Party may be facing a notable drubbing in the country’s general election that could raise questions over the future of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
An exit poll in Britain’s election has projected that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party likely will win a majority of seats in Parliament in Thursday’s vote. That outcome would allow Johnson to fulfil his plan to take the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31.
If that prediction is confirmed by actual results, Corbyn will have led his left-of-center party to two electoral defeats since 2017.
Labour trade spokesman Barry Gardiner says “certainty this exit poll is a devastating blow.”
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10:10 p.m.
The pound has surged after an exit poll in Britain’s Brexit election projected that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party likely will win a majority of seats in Parliament.
The pound jumped over two cents late Thursday against the dollar, to $1.3445, the highest in more than a year and a half.
Many investors hope a Conservative win would cement the the country’s impending departure from the European Union and ease, at least in the short term, some of the uncertainty that has corroded business confidence since Britons voted in 2016 to leave the bloc.
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10 p.m.
An exit poll in Britain’s election projects that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party likely will win a majority of seats in Parliament.
That outcome would allow Johnson to fulfil his plan to take the U.K. out of the European Union next month.
The survey predicts the Conservatives will get 368 of the 650 House of Commons seats and the Labour Party 191 seats. It projects 55 seats for the Scottish National Party and 13 seats for the Liberal Democrats, both parties that want to stop Brexit.
The poll, based on interviews with voters leaving 144 polling stations across the country, is conducted for a consortium of U.K. broadcasters.
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9:15 p.m.
Polls close in less than an hour in Britain’s general election, where voters are deciding which party will form a government and try to break the country’s political deadlock over Brexit.
Some 46 million people are eligible to vote in the country’s first December election since 1923. Thursday’s vote came amid rounds of blustery weather.
Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hoping to win a majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons so he can lead the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31 as promised.
The main opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, is promising a new referendum on Brexit.
An exit poll will be released when polls close at 10 p.m. (2200 GMT). Ballots will be counted throughout the night, with most results declared by Friday morning.
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3 p.m.
Britain’s general election is going to the dogs.
Voters on Thursday took their pooches to polling stations up and down the country.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party set the tone early when he took his Jack Russell cross Dilyn with him as he voted in London.
The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party, followed Johnson’s lead, posting a video of himself and his dog Luna at a polling station and urging people to vote.
By early afternoon, the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations was trending on Twitter.
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11 a.m.
People in Oxford could have brought their dirty laundry with them as they cast their vote in Britain’s general election.
That’s because the Ace Launderette in the English university city was pressed into service as a polling station. Thursday’s early election was called by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a bid to break the country’s Brexit stalemate.
There were plenty of odd polling locations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In the town of Hampshire, voters could also check out the automobiles for sale at the Petersfield Used Car Centre. And in the West Midlands town of Dudley, a converted shipping container was turned into a voting booth.
In addition to traditional polling stations at churches and schools, many picturesque pubs also served as voting centers.
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7 a.m.
Britons who have endured more than three years of wrangling over their country’s messy divorce from the European Union are cast ballots in an election billed as a way out of the Brexit stalemate in this deeply divided nation.
Braving blustery rain, voters went to polling stations Thursday in schools, community centers, pubs and town halls after a five-week campaign rife with mudslinging and misinformation.
The contest pits Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who says he will take Britain out of the European Union by Jan. 31, against the opposition Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn, who has promised another referendum on Brexit.
All 650 seats in the House of Commons are up for grabs in the election. Opinion polls suggest the Conservatives have a lead over Labour. But all the parties are nervous about a volatile electorate fed up after years of Brexit wrangling.
