It was billed as one of the most unpredictable elections in decades but after six weeks of hard campaigning by two historically unpopular party leaders it ended with a conclusive result.

Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson won a sweeping victory, handing him a clear mandate to “get Brexit done”.

He had called the UK’s third general election since 2015 – and the first to be held in December for almost 100 years – in an effort to increase his parliamentary majority and end months of deadlock over the UK’s exit from the European Union.

It was a thumping defeat for the main opposition Labour party. Leader Jeremy Corbyn said Brexit had “polarised and divided debate”, shifting focus away from other, more traditional issues.

How did the night unfold?

The first indication of what was to come arrived at 22:00 GMT, when the results of the BBC’s exit poll of thousands of voters was announced.

While earlier forecasts for the two main parties showed a narrowing of Mr Johnson’s lead over Mr Corbyn, the exit poll revealed something quite different: the Conservatives were forecast to win 368 seats, their biggest majority since 1987.

To command a governing majority, a party must win at least 326 of parliament’s 650 seats.

Labour was predicted to lose many of the seats it had gained previously, in 2017, and would take a hit in its traditional heartlands.

Shortly after 05:00, it was confirmed that Mr Johnson had won an overall majority.

By 07:00, it became clear the Conservatives were on course for their biggest majority at Westminster since the days of Margaret Thatcher, with 45% of the vote.

Voter turnout was 67.3% of the 47,587,254 people registered to vote. Read more

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