THE pound has jumped against the dollar and euro in its biggest rally in three years after Boris Johnson won the general election.

Sterling rose almost 2.2 per cent after the Opsos Mori exit poll was published last night.

5 The pound surged against the dollar yesterday evening as the exit poll results were announced - this graph shows its level since August 2018

It marks the biggest one-day rise for the pound since January 2017, and the highest level it has been at this year.

The huge surge is also the highest the pound has been against the dollar since May 2018.

Meanwhile, sterling has risen to its highest against the euro since July 2016, following a wobbly period in the months running up to the election.

On Friday morning, the value of £1 sat at US$1.34 and €1.20.

At the time of writing around 5pm, it has fallen very slightly to US$1.33 while the value against the euro has remained the same.

5 The pound jumped against the euro after Boris Johnson won the election Credit: XE

5 It also rose against the dollar, with the value of £1 currently sitting at $1.33 Credit: XE

But there are hopes sterling could rocket higher, with currency trader Jordan Rochester from Nomura telling the BBC's Today programme the pound could reach "grind higher" to $1.40.

And as the London stock market opened on Friday morning, the FTSE 250 index leapt more than 2 per cent, with banks and utilities that faced nationalisation under Labour all up.

Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, said: “With more political certainty due to the large majority, the UK economy is also likely to receive an election bounce.

“Billions of pounds in business investment that has been on the sidelines due to the parliamentary paralysis is now ready to be unleashed.

“This will give a much-needed boost the slowing British economy.”

What we know so far:

“It now looks more likely that Boris Johnson will indeed be able to ‘get Brexit done'."

Yesterday, Brits headed to the polls to vote in one of the biggest and most decisive elections ever.

FOLLOW THE ELECTION ACTION ON OUR LIVE BLOG

Exit polls put Mr Johnson on course for a majority win with 368 while Labour trailed at just 191.

The PM tweeted: "Thank you to everyone across our great country who voted, who volunteered, who stood as candidates.

"We live in the greatest democracy in the world."

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The third General Election in less than five years has been largely dominated by the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

Labour had pledged to give voters another say in a second referendum, while the Tories vowed to take the UK out of the EU next month.

The last election in the UK in 2017 saw a 68.8 per cent turnout, higher than at the 2015 and 2010 elections - with bookies offering 6-4 odds on a 65-70 per cent turnout this year.

5 Boris has pledged to 'get Brexit done' throughout the election campaign

5 Corbyn promised to protect the NHS and bring in more police officers