London: Election-weary British voters gave Prime Minister Boris Johnson a “powerful new mandate” in the historic polls as his Conservative Party on Friday won a commanding majority in Parliament to allow him to finalise UK’s divorce deal with the European Union next month.
Johnson, 55, who vigorously campaigned on a simple slogan “Get Brexit done,” vowed that he will work “night and day” to repay the trust of the voters after the Conservatives’ most emphatic majority since the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher.
A 364-seat haul gave the party a solid 78-seat majority in the 650-strong House of Commons. Addressing a victory rally, Johnson hailed a “new dawn” which “unarguably” broke the Brexit deadlock and vowed not to let down the “sacred trust” placed in him by the voters, who turned out for the first winter election in decades to register a 67 per cent turnout. Johnson, who won his own seat in London’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip, hailed the Conservative Party’s triumph as a “powerful new mandate” to move forward with his deal to leave the 28-member economic bloc on January 31.
Fed up with the prolonged political turmoil over Brexit, voters gave Johnson the huge mandate so that he can get the UK out of the European Union by January — no ifs, no buts.
“It does look as though 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,” he said. “We did it, we pulled it off didn’t we? We broke the deadlock, we ended the gridlock, we smashed the roadblock,” Johnson, who was accompanied by his girlfriend Carrie Symonds and their pet dog Dilyn at the rally. “With this election I think we’ve put an end to all those miserable threats of a second referendum,” he said, as he got the crowd to repeat “Get Brexit Done” numerous times during an energetic victory speech.
Johnson will soon have an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, which will mark the formal start of his new government.
The Opposition Labour was down to just 203 seats, a disastrous performance for the party in decades which resulted in leader Jeremy Corbyn announcing that he would not lead the party in the next election.
“It has been a very disappointing night for Labour… I will not lead the party in any future General Election campaign,” said 70-year-old Corbyn, as he won his own seat in London’s Islington North constituency. It marked a crushing defeat, which is almost entirely being blamed on Corbyn’s leadership and his failure to take a clear stance on Brexit as well as counter growing allegations of anti-semitism within the party ranks. (PTI)
