UK election 2019: Conservatives win Labour stronghold after exit poll predicts big majority

The Conservatives struck an early blow when they took a seat that had been in the hands of Labour since the 1950s.

Their triumph in Blyth Valley, the third to be declared, came after exit polls predicted the Conservatives would win the UK general election with a big majority.

The Ipsos Mori survey put the Tories on 368 votes, Labour 191, the Scottish National Party (SNP) 55 and the Liberal Democrats 13.

Anything above 326 votes would give the Conservatives a majority in the House of Commons and see their Brexit deal pushed through.

Watch: Election results come in from across the country

If the exit poll is wrong, and Boris Johnson’s party gets fewer than 326 votes, it opens the door for a totally different power structure.

The predicted seat haul for the SNP — near to a clean sweep of seats north of the border — would boost the case for a fresh referendum on Scottish independence.

Read More (...)