Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that if exit polls are correct and the Conservatives are returned to power with a strong majority, then the new government will have “the chance to respect the democratic will of the British people”.

Exit polls have predicted a Tory victory, gaining seats from Labour, with Sky News predicting as of 4 am on Friday that the Conservatives could have a House of Commons majority of as many as 76 to 88 seats. Johnson was re-elected to his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, holding it with 25,351 votes with Labour in second with 18,141.

Whilst still dealing with projections and not wanting to “tempt fate”, Prime Minister Johnson said with optimism: “This one-nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.

“And not just to get Brexit done, but to unite this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities of the British people,” he said from the counting centre in Uxbridge.

It has almost become a tradition in British politics for fringe parties like the Monster Raving Loony Party to field candidates in handfuls of constituencies during elections, often wildly dressed and gaining votes in the dozens.

In the prime minister’s seat, there was no exception and with typical dry humour, Mr Johnson namechecked his rivals, saying: “I thank my fellow candidates in all their glory, Lord Buckethead, Elmo, and others.”

Prime Minister Johnson continued: “I want to thank the people of this country for turning out in a December election that we didn’t want to call but which I think has turned out to be a historic election that gives us now in this new government, the chance to respect the democratic will of the British people, to change this country for the better, and t0 unleash the potential of the entire people of this country and that is what we will now do.”