Boris Johnson Wins Majority In UK General Election, Hails Powerful Mandate

The Conservatives secured a comfortable majority in the House of Commons after winning their 326th seat.

(Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

New Delhi: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won a clear majority in UK general election deemed as one of the country's most crucial and decisive elections,  as his Conservative Party crossed UK crossed the 326-mark required for a majority in Parliament, media reports said on Friday. The Conservatives  secured a comfortable majority in the House of Commons after winning their 326th seat. Jeremy Corbyn had earlier announced his resignation as leader of the Labour party after trends predicted heavy defeat for the party in the elections. Exit polls, revealed on Friday, that the UK's Conservatives have taken a string of former Labour strongholds, with the ruling party forecast to win the general election with a comfortable majority, exit polls revealed on Friday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's gamble to push for an early vote as a way to end the parliamentary deadlock on Brexit looks to have paid off, with the number of Conservative seats in Parliament growing from 330 in 2017 to 368, according to the exit polling carried out by Ipsos-Mori on behalf of the BBC, ITV and Sky television. Johnson needed 326 seats for an absolute majority. Downing Street said in a statement that if the exit polls were correct and Johnson returns to Downing Street, there will be a minor cabinet reshuffle on December 16, reported the BBC. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, paving the way for Brexit on January 31, 2020, would have its second Commons reading on December 20. A major reshuffle would take place in February, after the UK has left the EU, the Downing Street added, with a Budget statement in March. Running on the slogan "Get Brexit Done", Johnson pushed for early elections in a bid to recover a majority in Parliament and break the Brexit deadlock in Parliament. Johnson inherited a minority government from predecessor Theresa May, who lost her majority in a miscalculated decision to call a snap election in 2017 in a bid for a mandate to proceed with Brexit. May stepped down earlier this year after the House of Commons, the lower chamber of lawmaking in the UK, rejected her Brexit withdrawal deal three times. (with inputs from agencies)