Even in his wildest dreams, Prime Minister Boris Johnson could never have hoped that it would be a night like that. The gamble of triggering a snap poll to unite the Brexit vote paid off, decimating Labour’s support as Johnson clinched a massive Tory general election victory, along the way winning strings of seats from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party in its traditional heartlands, or its ‘red wall’ as it is known. As the ballot boxes closed at 10 pm last night, the exit polls pointed to a massive Conservative majority of 86. The first major upset of the night was the former mining constituency of Blyth Valley in Northumberland turning blue. It has been held by Labour since its creation and was number 116 on the Tories hit list.
Johnson gave an early speech to the faithful where he started bullishly by saying that the ‘miserable threats of a second referendum’ was over and it was time for the remainers to ‘put a sock in it’. However, as the speech continued he was more humble towards those in the Labour heartlands that gave him the landslide. ‘You may only have lent us your vote, you may not think of yourself as a natural Tory and you may intend to return to Labour next time round. If that is the case I am humbled that you have put your trust in me. I will never take your support for granted’ he said, adding ‘Many of us has dreamed of a day when the Conservative party genuinely speaks for every part of the country. We have won from Workington to Woking … including seats the Conservatives have not won for 100 years or more. Wrexham. Tony Blair’s old seat in Sedgefield. We turned Redcar Blue-car’.
As always, Trump got in on the act. He tweeted his congratulations in the early hours. 'Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his great WIN! Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT. This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the E.U. Celebrate Boris’.
The other big winner of the night was the SNP, increasing the calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. That debate/argument will be ongoing for the next 5 years methinks.
And to the losers. Jo Swinson, who started the night the Liberal Democrats leader, and began the campaign claiming she could be the next prime minister, lost in her East Dunbartonshire constituency to the SNP, a result that capped a disastrous night for her party. As dawn broke she was the leader no more.
So to the Labour party. It was a shocker. Worse than Michael ‘The longest suicide note in history’ Foot in 1983, and with just 203 seats, the lowest tally since 1935, when Clement Attlee, won just 154 seats. Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not lead another general election campaign but intends to oversee a ‘period of reflection’. In the period of reflection, there will be bitter recriminations from all sides of the party with many wanting to pull the party back towards centrism. As the director of the centrist Labour campaign group Progress, Nathan Yeowell put it ‘This has been a catastrophe. We need to now get rid of the cronyism associated with Corbyn and find someone more relevant for the next decade. Hopefully, he will do the honourable thing and stand down on Friday. Labour now needs a phase of colossal reconstruction’.