UK Election Results 2019: Boris Johnson Wins With 86-Seat Majority, Exit Polls Reals

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party will assume domination of the House of Commons after exit polls show the Tories seizing a decisive 86-seat majority in Thursday's snap general election.

Exit polls have the Tories gaining at least 50 seats, mostly at the expense of the defeated Labour Party and its leader, Jeremy Corbin. A party needs more than 320 seats to seize a majority in the House of Commons so it can easily pass bills.

An exit poll by Ipsos Mori commissioned by the BBC, Sky News and ITV projects the Tories winning 368 seats in the Commons. Labour is expected to wind-up with 191 seats and lose 71 in a humiliating rejection of Corbin's hard left party platform. Jo Swinson's centrist Liberal Democrats are predicted to get 13 seats, the Scottish National Party 55 seats and Nigel Farrage's Brexit Party is expected to win no seats at all.

The British pound sterling rose more than two percent to to $1.3451 against the U.S. dollar after the release of the exit polls. This was the pound's highest level against the dollar since June 2018. The pound sterling also improved against the euro, up 1.4 percent to 83.265 pence.

Analysts said the Tories' huge win makes the probability of a hard Brexit less likely. In a hard Brexit, the U.K. will leave not only the European Union but the single market and the customs union, as well. The victory for Johnson and his Brexiteers also means Brexit will be a done deal in January 2020. It would have taken the exhausted citizen of the U.K. three-and-a-half years since the 2016 referendum on EU membership to get here.

During the election campaign, Johnson promised Britons that a vote for his Conservative Party would “Get Brexit Done.” On the other hand, Labour vowed to renegotiate a Brexit deal with the EU and to then put this to a public vote. Lib Dems took the more extreme position -- doing away with Brexit altogether.

Obviously elated with the exit polls, Johnson thanked Conservative voters, candidates and volunteers. "We live in the greatest democracy in the world," he tweeted.

Once confirmed by the official count, the victory will be the Conserervatives' most decisive since Margaret Thatcher's win in 1987. It will also be the worst Labour defeat in more than 40 years and will renew calls for Corbyn's ouster.

The Tory victory was not unexpected; they led voter opinion polls up to the election. Previous predictions, however, had the Tories winning only a slight majority rendering them captive to deal making with other parties.

Voters will now hold Johnson to his promise to secure a Brexit deal by the end of 2020. This deal has to come before the end of the transition period during which the UK will formally leave the EU but will still be subject to all its rules and regulations. The transition period is there to prevent a hard landing.

If Johnson, however, can't secure a deal by the end of 2020, he'll have to ask the EU for an extension to the transition period. It's widely held crashing out of the EU without a trade agreement will severely damage the already floundering U.K. economy.