Big Conservative majority delivers political certainty

The general election has delivered political certainty with the Conservative Party on course to achieve a majority of 80 seats.

Boris Johnson secured the largest Tory majority in a generation and once again promised to “get Brexit done”.

He said: “As the nation hands us this historic mandate, we must rise to the challenge and to the level of expectations. And parliament must change so that we in parliament are working for you the British people.”

The Withdrawal Bill is now expected to be brought back to Parliament immediately and be passed ahead of the January 31 deadline. A Budget and a more significant Cabinet reshuffle is likely to follow.

It is the fourth consecutive election loss for the Labour Party, with Jeremy Corbyn announcing he will not lead the party into another election.

The Liberal Democrats will also be looking for a new leader after Jo Swinson lost her Dunbartonshire East seat as the SNP strengthened its stranglehold in Scotland.

With two seats still to declare, the Conservatives had won 363 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, Liberal Democrats 11 and 23 others.

Saqib Bhatti

– Saqib Bhatti, the President of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, becomes an MP after winning Meriden for the Conservatives with a majority of nearly 23,000

– the Conservatives won Newcastle-under-Lyme for the first time in a century and Stoke-on-Trent North for the first time since it was created in 1950

– Labour has just one MP left in Wolverhampton – Pat McFadden – after the Conservatives won Wolverhampton South West and North East

– Former deputy leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson saw the West Bromwich East seat he vacated go to the Conservative candidate, 25-year-old Nicola Richards

– Birmingham has its first Conservative MP since 1992, after winning Birmingham Northfield

Businesses and investors have been affected by the uncertainty that has provided the backdrop for more than three years, but Johnson’s larger-than-expected majority provides hope that his Government has a mandate and an ability to take action.

The pound had risen sharply when the exit poll was published, rising nearly 3% against the dollar to an 18-month high of $1.35 – up from $1.20 in August. The pound reached its highest level against the euro since the 2016 referendum.

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Since the referendum result, feedback from our Quarterly Business Report has regularly highlighted that firms across the region have been hampered by years of uncertainty caused by the Brexit process.

“With such a decisive majority, we hope that we will see the modicum of stability that businesses need in order to press ahead with informed decision making – particularly when it comes to investing in their people and products.”

Damien Siviter, group managing director of Birmingham-based property group SevenCapital, said: “This strong victory from the Conservatives should restore some of the confidence within the market across the UK and amongst investors from overseas.

“For the housing market, today’s election results should result in a positive boost to both activity and to prices. As with any market across the UK, the property market reacts to levels of certainty. With one of the strongest majority results in years, this activity looks likely to be very positive.”