Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls to resign after the exit poll predicted a stinging defeat for Labour.

The poll, which in recent years has accurately predicted the outcome of the election, predicted the Tories are on course for a thumping 86 seat majority.

That is far more than any poll ahead of voting day predicted, with surveys yesterday suggesting a hung parliament could be likely.

Sky News politics correspondent Beth Rigby says Jeremy Corbyn will likely face calls to resign after the predicted result, which Labour’s Barry Gardiner has called ‘devastating’.

Speaking on Sky News, the shadow secretary of state said: ‘If that is the case it is a devastating result for us, not just for us and our party, but for all the people who were really needing a Labour victory to improve their lies.’

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said he would wait for the results in the morning before making a decision on whether he would stand down.

He denied the losses were a judgement on his and Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of far left socialism.

He told BBC’s Andrew Neil: ‘What’s clearly come through is that this is a Brexit election.

‘I think people are frustrated and they want Brexit out the way and that’s what’s happened.’

Exit polls are not always fully reliable, but over the last few decades they generally have been.

Keep up to date with all our election coverage here
 

Seats have not been counted, but pollsters predict the Tories will win 368 seats, Labour 191 seats, the Lib Dems 13 seats, the Greens one seat and SNP 55.

That would give the Conservatives a greater share of the vote than they have ever had since the 1970s.

While Boris Johnson could beat Margret Thatcher’s record in 1979,  the Labour party could set a post-war record for the smallest number of seats won in any general election.

The exit poll suggests traditional Labour strong-holds in leave-voting areas have swung to the Tories.

After the exit poll was announced Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘RIP Jeremy Corbyn’s career. Britain stared radical socialism in the face and said: ‘Nah.’.

Sky’s Sophy Ridge said Senior Labour figures are shocked and saddened by the result, but the official line is that it is too early to call the result.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk?

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article