Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson hails emphatic general election win for the Tories… Boris Johnson has secured an emphatic victory as voters backed him to take Britain out of the EU next month. Conservative victories in a string of seats in Labour’s former heartlands meant that the party was set for a projected majority of 74 in the Commons, the biggest at a general election since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1987. Jeremy Corbyn conceded defeat at 3.20am but resisted pressure to quit immediately. He said that he would stand down after leading the party through “a period of reflection”. Shortly afterwards Mr Johnson said the results thus far had shown that “this one-nation Conservative government has been given a powerful mandate to get Brexit done.” In a private speech to Conservative aides this morning Mr Johnson is reported to have said that his party had created an earthquake. – The Times (£) Boris Johnson hails Brexit mandate as Tories make major gains into Labour heartlands – ITV News > RESULTS: Analysis in maps and charts – BBC News …and reportedly intends to accelerate Brexit plans… Boris Johnson’s first priority on being returned to Downing Street with an overall majority will be to make good on his election promise to “get Brexit done”. The Tories will announce their legislative programme in a Queen’s Speech on 19 December and top of the agenda will be a Withdrawal Agreement Bill, tabled in parliament before Christmas, to ratify Mr Johnson’s deal with Brussels in time to leave on 31 January. He can be expected to accelerate the passage of the legislation through parliament. But senior sources poured cold water on reports that he could order MPs and peers to sit for additional days over the Christmas and New Year period to get the bill through. – Independent …as he eyes a mini-reshuffle next week ahead of a larger overhaul in February Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning a radical reshuffle of his top team after he secures Brexit. Sources said Mr Johnson would conduct a mini-reshuffle on Monday to fill at least two vacant posts, which would pave the way for a bigger shake-up in early February. “We will have one Cabinet to Get Brexit Done and another to change the country,” the senior source said. Cabinet minister Michael Gove told ITV: “I hope that if the Conservatives do form a majority we can get the Brexit Bill through and then we can begin the process of healing and rebuilding the country.” – Daily Mail Boris Johnson hails election triumph – Politico Labour’s ‘red wall’ demolished by Tory onslaught… Labour voters have overturned decades of political tradition and defected to the Conservatives across its industrial heartlands, transforming the electoral map and ushering Boris Johnson towards a significant Commons majority. In results that surpassed even Johnson’s wildest expectations, the Conservatives unseated Labour for the first time in decades in solid red seats from Wrexham in North Wales to Blyth Valley in Northumberland. The shock of the exit poll, which predicted Labour’s worst general election result since the 1930s, gave way to dismay and anger as unseated Labour MPs blamed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership for the party’s dismal showing. At Spennymoor leisure centre, outside Durham, dejected Labour activists looked on as votes piled up for the Conservative candidates in Bishop Auckland and Sedgefield, mining communities where the closure of the pits cast a long shadow over the area’s politics. – Guardian Conservatives take Wrexham from Labour held since 1935 – WalesOnline Blyth Valley battering for Corbyn as Tories win famously Labour town – Express Bishop Auckland elects first Conservative MP with majority of almost 8,000 – Northern Echo Conservatives take Blackpool South, Hyndburn and Burnley – BBC News > WATCH: Newly elected Tory MP for Blyth Valley Ian Levy: We’re going to get Brexit done …with Jeremy Corbyn to quit as Labour leader after a disastrous night Jeremy Corbyn is to stand down as Labour leader following a “period of reflection”. The party is set for its lowest number of seats since 1935 and Mr Corbyn admitted it had been a “very disappointing” night as support crumbled in its former heartlands. The anti-war campaigner, who has represented Islington North since 1983, ran as an outside candidate for the party leadership in 2015 and managed to outlast two Tory prime ministers. But facing his second general election defeat, Mr Corbyn announced that he would call it a day as leader as he was re-elected in his London seat. – Sky News > WATCH: Jeremy Corbyn: Brexit has contributed to the results the Labour Party has received this evening Jo Swinson loses her seat on a horrendous night for the Lib Dems The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, has been toppled in her own seat, throwing her future at the head of the party into serious doubt after a dismal showing at the polls across the country. Swinson, who started the campaign claiming she could be the next prime minister, lost in her East Dunbartonshire constituency to the SNP, a result that capped a disastrous night for her party. Though Lib Dem numbers in the Commons swelled before the election to 21, aided by MPs crossing the floor, the Ipsos Mori exit poll predicted the party winning 13 seats – only one more than in 2017. Tom Brake was another casualty for the party, narrowly failing to hold his Carshalton & Wallington seat in south London. – Guardian Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson defeated – Politico Every centrist MP who defected from Labour and the Tories loses their seat… Every centrist MP who defected from Labour and the Tories looks to have lost their seat at the general election. Over a dozen parliamentarians left the two major parties, most citing Brexit or antisemitism. Some of the MPs stood as Liberal Democrats, others for the new party Change UK, and others as independents. The three most high-profile Lib Dem defectors, Chuka Umunna, Sam Gyimah and Lucinia Berger all failed to win their London target seats, as did all the other defectors. In Altringham and Sale West, former Labour MP Angela Smith came a distant third running as a Lib Dem, while former Tory Philip Lee came second in Wokingham. Sarah Wollaston lost to the Conservatives in Totnes. – Independent …including Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston… Former Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, who joined the Liberal Democrats earlier this year, has lost her Totnes seat. It has been held by the Conservatives, with Anthony Mangnall elected. Dr Wollaston was elected as a Tory in 2017 but switched allegiances to Change UK in February, before joining the Liberal Democrats in August. Her agent, councillor John Birch, said she encountered “quite a lot of hostility” during the campaign. He said one resident said he wanted to “see Sarah’s head on a pike”. “I was completely shocked by what he said. It’s just appalling,” he added. Dr Wollaston said she joined the Liberal Democrats because it was the best way for her to fight for the UK to remain in the EU. – BBC News …and Chuka Umunna, the Blairite who joined the Lib Dems The former Labour defector Chuka Umunna has failed in his attempt to win the Cities of London and Westminster seat for the Liberal Democrats. Mr Umunna increased the Lib Dems’ share of the vote by almost 20 per cent in the central London seat to leapfrog Labour into second place, but fell around 4,000 votes short of overhauling Conservative Vickie Aiken. He appeared to be a victim of the failure of tactical voting campaigns to unite the pro-referendum vote, with Lib Dems, Labour and Greens polling more than 25,000 votes together, against the Conservatives’ 17,000. – Independent DUP loses ‘kingmaker’ role and Westminster leader Nigel Dodds It was a tough night from the get-go for the DUP, after an exit poll predicted a huge majority for the Conservatives – costing them their influential role as so-called “kingmakers”. Arlene Foster’s party had found themselves in a position of power when they were able to prop the previous Tory minority government up through their confidence and supply agreement. However, with that off the table as Boris Johnson’s Brexit election gamble paid off in spades, the DUP were left contesting key battlegrounds and finding themselves losing votes. Belfast North has never fallen out of unionist hands, with the seat held by senior party figure Nigel Dodds since 2001. – ITV News SNP sweep of Scotland seats will heighten constitutional stand-off An exit poll suggesting the Scottish National party has won a landslide general election victory in Scotland raised the prospect of a heightened constitutional stand-off with Westminster that could strain the already frayed unity of the UK. Even a much smaller victory than the predicted 55 of Scotland’s 59 seats would set a resurgent SNP against a Conservative majority government, whose leaders have already emphatically rejected the Scottish party’s demand for a second referendum on independence. Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister, reacted cautiously to the forecast of what would be a landslide victory almost as complete as the general election of 2015, when her party took 56 seats. – FT (£) Donald Trump says US will strike massive new trade deal with Britain after Brexit Donald Trump has congratulated Boris Johnson on his landslide victory in the General Election promising a ‘massive trade deal’ with Britain after Brexit. The president took to Twitter to give his thoughts on the goings on across the pond. He tweeted: “Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his great WIN! Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after Brexit. This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the E.U. Celebrate Boris!” – The Sun Ian Austin: Nearly a decade of austerity for the Tories and still a crushing win – Labour’s defeat demands a complete rethink Who would have thought that after nine years of austerity, with a Tory Party tearing itself to bits and Brexit still not sorted, the Tories could win as big as this? This is a catastrophe for Labour. It isn’t just a defeat for Jeremy Corbyn but for everyone who supported his hard-left, extremist agenda. And if this doesn’t make them think again, what will? Of course, they will claim this was the Brexit election, not a verdict on their mad manifesto. They will blame the media, the opinion polls, their opponents and even the weather. Anything to avoid responsibility for taking the Labour Party to its worst result since 1935. – Ian Austin for The Sun Asa Bennett: Boris Johnson has crushed the Remainers. If only they would lose with grace A blue dawn has broken, has it not? Tony Blair might well wonder that, especially after seeing his old seat taken by the Tories as they swept to victory. Moments before the exit poll came out last night, one Labour source excitedly passed on rumours to me that Sir John Curtice’s latest masterpiece would find that the Tories were on track to do barely any better than Theresa May by winning just 320 seats and land in another hung parliament. Needless to say, they were blindsided by the actual forecast of a thumping landslide, and so it seems were Remainers across the country – who had put their faith in whizzy tactical voting websites to save them from a Tory majority. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Tom Newton Dunn: Boris Johnson’s crushing election victory puts him in the same league of conquering party heroes as Margaret Thatcher The extraordinary scale of Boris Johnson’s win has massive ramifications for how he will govern Britain for the next five years. The Prime Minister fought a presidential campaign, with the rest of the Cabinet almost invisible for much of the time. Defeat would have fallen on his shoulders alone, and victory will be borne aloft on them too now – because in the Conservative Party, nothing succeeds like success. As a brand, he has won back his old moniker of the Heineken politician, reaching parts of the country that others cannot ever touch. As party leader, the eccentric 55-year-old Etonian is now all-powerful. The repeated leadership challenges that have dogged the last two years are now a thing of the past for the Conservative Party, at least for some while. – Tom Newton Dunn for The Sun Brexit in Brief Corbyn’s politics might fit with his own moral compass but thank goodness British voters have some common sense – Alex Singleton for the Telegraph (£)