Winning big, Johnson on course to deliver swift Brexit

LABOUR DEFEAT

"This is obviously a very disappointing night for the Labour Party with the result that we've got," Corbyn said after being re-elected in his own north London electoral seat. He said he would not lead the party in any future elections.

Weary Labour candidates said his leadership had played a major role in the defeat.

Ruth Smeeth, who said she also expected to lose her seat in Stoke-on-Trent, laid the blame firmly at Corbyn's door.

"He should have gone many, many, many months ago," she said.

The Liberal Democrats were forecast to win 13 seats, the exit poll said. Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat party leader, lost her seat to the Scottish National Party.

The Brexit Party were not predicted to win any.

The Scottish National Party, which strongly opposes Brexit, would win 55 of the 59 seats in Scotland, the poll said, setting the scene for it to demand a second independence vote, after secession was rejected by 55% to 45% in 2014.

Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Johnson did not have a mandate to take Scotland out of the EU.

"We don't want Brexit," Sturgeon said. "Boris Johnson may have a mandate to take England out of the European Union, he emphatically does not have a mandate to take Scotland out of the European Union."

Reuters