Brexit on January 31 'irrefutable' after Tory victory
Brexit will happen “on time” on January 31 Conservative leader Boris Johnson has said, after obtaining an absolute majority by a margin of 79 seats and what he called “a huge stonking mandate… to get Brexit done”.
“They want us to get Brexit done. It is absolutely overwhelming. No one can now refute that,” he told supporters this morning at Conservative HQ.
He said the result means Brexit is now “irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable” and “we’ve put an end to all those miserable threats of a second referendum”.
The Conservatives obtained 364 seats last night, up 47 seats and with 38 more than were needed for an absolute majority.
Labour lost 59 seats, at 203, the Lib Dems are down one, at 11 – and leader Jo Swinson lost her seat.
The SNP did well in Scotland, up 11 at 48, strengthening their case for another independence referendum. The DUP are down two at eight and the Greens retain one MP.
The Liberal Democrats have announced that Sir Ed Davey and Baroness Sal Brinton will become their joint acting leaders.
Donald Trump has congratulated Mr Johnson saying the result leaves the UK and US “free to strike a massive new trade deal”.
The pound rose, buoyed by the increased certainty over Brexit, however the investment bank Goldman Sachs warned there would remain “considerable challenges ahead”.
It is predicting already that Mr Johnson will backtrack on promises not to extend the Brexit transition period beyond 2020, saying his large majority will make such an u-turn easier to achieve.
