Brexit mandate clear in U.K. vote; Johnson gets royal order after Conservatives win 365 seats

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrates with his staff Friday as he returns to No. 10 Downing St. in London after meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government. More photos are available at arkansasonline.com/1214election/.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrates with his staff Friday as he returns to No. 10 Downing St. in London after meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government. More photos are available at arkansasonline.com/1214election/.


LONDON -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged Friday to heal Britain's divisions over Brexit after his gamble on early elections rewarded him with a commanding majority in Parliament and a new mandate to take his country out of the European Union at the end of January.

Ballots tallied through the night affirmed that Johnson and his Conservative Party had achieved a smashing success, the largest win for the Conservatives since the days of Margaret Thatcher -- while the opposition Labor Party and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, suffered their worst defeat in four decades.

The final count Friday had the Conservatives winning 365 spots in the 650-seat Parliament. The Labor Party slumped to 203 seats, 59 fewer than it won two years ago.

Johnson on Friday went to Buckingham Palace to meet with Queen Elizabeth II as part of the constitutional ritual of forming a new government. He is the 14th prime minister to be asked by the monarch to form a government.

The results offer Johnson fresh momentum to push his EU withdrawal agreement through Parliament. Since taking office in July, he had led a minority government. After the House of Commons stalled his Brexit deal at the end of October, he called the election two years ahead of schedule in hopes of winning a clear majority.

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"I will put an end to all that nonsense, and we will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January -- no ifs, no buts, no maybes," he said as supporters cheered.

Johnson also offered an olive branch to Britons who want to remain in the EU, saying he will respect their "warm feelings" and build a "new partnership" with the bloc as "friends and sovereign equals."

Speaking Friday outside No. 10 Downing St., he pledged to end acrimony over Brexit and urged the country to "let the healing begin." He said he would work to repay voters' trust.

Key leaders in Europe, signaled that they, too, were willing to start anew. French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to build a common future.

"I also want to tell our British friends and allies something very simple: By this general election, you have confirmed the choice made more than three years ago, but you are not leaving Europe," he said. "Our history, our geography, our values tie us beyond the twists and turns, difficulties or disappointments."

U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Johnson on "a tremendous victory," and said he looked forward to a new trade deal with Britain.

"It's going to be a great thing for the United States also, because it means a lot of trade, a tremendous amount of trade," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "They want to do business with us so badly."

The scale of Johnson's success marked a stinging defeat for Corbyn, who had promised to lead the Labor Party to victory with the "biggest people-powered campaign our country has ever seen."

Instead, voters rejected his attempt to bridge divisions over Brexit by promising a second referendum on any deal with the EU. The vote also turned away the rest of the party's agenda, which included promises to raise taxes on the rich, increase social spending and nationalize industries such as water delivery, railroads and the postal service.

Corbyn, after winning in his own Islington constituency, announced he would not lead his party in any future general-election campaign but that he intended to stay on as leader during a period of reflection.

"This is obviously a very disappointing night for the Labor Party," he said.

He defended the popularity's of the party's platform, which sought to "right the wrongs and the injustices and inequalities that exist in this country." And he attributed the party's losses to the notion that "Brexit has so polarized and divided debate within this country, it has overridden so much of a normal political debate."

Corbyn has been criticized for silencing critics within the party and failing to root out anti-Semitism among his supporters.

Phil Wilson, the former Labor Party lawmaker who lost his seat to the Conservatives, said blaming the party's wipeout on Brexit was "mendacious nonsense."

Corbyn's leadership "was a bigger problem," he tweeted. "To say otherwise is delusional. The party's leadership went down like a lead balloon on the doorstep. Labor's leadership needs to take responsibility."

The next flash point for U.K. politics may be Scotland, where the Scottish National Party won 48 of the 59 seats that were up for grabs.

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon delivered the landslide victory with a campaign focused on demands for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Johnson has flatly rebuffed the idea of another vote, saying Scotland already rejected independence in 2014.

Sturgeon argues that the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU against the wishes of the Scottish people has materially changed the landscape. Some 62% of Scottish voters backed remaining in the EU during the 2016 referendum on membership.

"It is the right of the people of Scotland. And you, as the leader of a defeated party in Scotland, have no right to stand in the way," she said. She plans to publish a case next week for a transfer of power that would clear the way for a second independence vote.

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BEST WISHES, OPTIMISM

European Union leaders on Friday congratulated Johnson on his election victory as optimism arose that his clear majority should finally allow him to push the long-stalled Brexit divorce deal through a reluctant Parliament and end years of political wrangling.

But even as the Brexit dust begins to settle, leaders warned that a huge challenge lies ahead in trying to secure a trade agreement between Europe and the U.K. in just 11 months. Most pacts take years to conclude and the lack of time means priorities will have to be set.

"It's not only about a trade agreement but also speaking about education ... about transport, about fisheries, about sectorial questions," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the meeting in Brussels. "Many, many other fields are in the portfolio to be negotiated."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that concluding an agreement on future ties will be "very complicated" and that "what will matter above all is that we work very quickly and precisely."

Britain is scheduled to leave Jan. 31. It's the first time that a country will leave the world's biggest trading bloc.

The uncertainty over Britain's future was a big business concern and some companies have shifted operations out of the U.K. Questions remain over the future relationship after Brexit and whether tariff-free trade between the U.K. and the EU will continue after a departure transition period expires at the end of 2020.

"My hope is that the U.K. remains an ally, friend and extremely close partner," Macron said. "But on the condition that we manage to define the rules for a loyal relationship. If there is no regulatory convergence, we will not be able to conclude an ambitious trade agreement."

Joachim Lang, chief executive of the Federation of German Industries, said Friday that no German company wants Brexit but "our companies are breathing a sigh of relief that there is finally a mandate to accept the withdrawal agreement."

Though the pathway to Britain's departure by Jan. 31 is reasonably clear, the future relationship between the country and the EU is not. Discussions on that can only begin after Britain formally leaves. The EU has already said that its main Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will lead those talks.

After congratulating Johnson on his victory, new EU Council President Charles Michel said that "we expect as soon as possible the vote by the British Parliament on the withdrawal agreement."

"We are ready," he said. "The European Union will negotiate in order to have close cooperation in the future with the U.K."

Asked whether it is possible to strike a trade deal in under a year, Michel said: "it is not my intention to predict based on the experience of the past."

Information for this article was contributed by Jill Lawless, Danica Kirka, Mike Corder, Gregory Katz, Sheila Norman-Culp, Jo Kearney, Angela Charlton, Raf Casert, Adam Pemble, Lorne Cook, Samuel Petrequin and Geir Moulson of The Associated Press; and by William Booth, Karla Adam, James McAuley, Michael Birnbaum and Quentin Aries of The Washington Post.

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AP/Alberto Pezzali

Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (right) said he would stay on in the post during a period of reflection after his party’s stinging defeat but would not lead any future campaigns.


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AP/Jane Barlow

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives for a speech Friday in Edinburgh after her party won 48 of the 59 seats up for grabs in Scotland, where anti-Brexit sentiment is strong. She plans to publish a case next week for a transfer of power to clear the way for a second independence vote.

A Section on 12/14/2019

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