Boris Johnson is on course to secure a Tory majority in the Commons, according to the exit poll for the General Election.
After six weeks of campaigning across the country in wet and chilly December conditions, the outcome of the third General Election in just under five years should be known in the early hours of Friday.
10.17pm
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that the exit poll suggested it had been a good night for her party.
Exit poll suggests good night for @theSNP – but it is just an exit poll and there are many marginals, so let’s just wait and see. What it indicates UK wide though is grim. #GE19
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 12, 2019
Green Party candidate Caroline Lucas had a less optimistic response:
If this exit poll is right, it’s a devastating blow for our climate, for future generations and for our democracy.It’s not just our relationship with the EU that will dominate the next few months, it will be our relationship with Scotland too
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) December 12, 2019
10.15pm
Polling expert Michael Thrasher said Jeremy Corbyn will go down as “one of the worst leaders in Labour’s history”.
Mr Thrasher, from the School of Sociology, Politics & Law at the University of Plymouth, told Sky News “the Conservatives have been heading for a clear majority all day long”.
He said: “It really is a remarkable election victory for Boris Johnson, a majority of 86 seats.
“For Labour it really is an appalling election result and possibly its worst performance in any general election since the second world war.
“So Jeremy Corbyn, I’m afraid, will go down as one of the worst leaders in Labour’s history.”
10.14pm
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) December 12, 2019
10.12pm
As in previous years, the exit poll has been commissioned jointly by the BBC, ITN and Sky News. It is different from other opinion polls because instead of asking people how they intend to vote, it asks people how they voted.
The current system of calculating the exit poll has been developed since the 2001 general election and has a very impressive track record of forecasting the result.
In 2017, the exit poll predicted the Tories would end up with 314 seats, just four short of the 318 the party actually won. Labour was forecast to win 266 (they finished on 262), the Lib Dems 14 (12), the SNP 34 (35), Plaid Cymru 3 (4), Ukip 0 (0), the Greens 1 (1) and others 18 (18).
10.08pm
Actor Hugh Grant who campaigned for Lib Dem candidates and was outspoken against the Tories had this reaction to the exit poll results on Twitter:
There goes the neighbourhood.
— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) December 12, 2019
10.05pm
The pound soared against the dollar and the euro as the exit poll predicted a Conservative majority.
A pound was up 1.85% to 1.342 dollars and up 1.09% to 1.202 euros within minutes of the announcement.
10pm
The exit poll predicts Tories on 368; Labour on 191; SNP on 55; Lib Dems on 13, with others taking 22 seats.
9.50pm
Here’s an estimation of when the results could be expected.
Earlier the party leaders cast their votes – except for the Brexit Party’s Nigel Farage who had a postal ballot.
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