an extraordinary election victory for the conservatives — borisjohnson urges the nation to find closure and let the healing begin after years of brexit wrangling. back in downing street — after leading his party to its biggest majority for 30 years — the prime minister thanks those who helped their dramatic victory by voting conservative for the first time. thank you for the trust you've placed in us and in me, and we will work round the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a parliament that works for you. a very different story for labour asjeremy corbyn leads his party to its worst election performance since the 1930s.

he says he will stand down, but not yet. the responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing and i won't do that. i will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me and then i will step down at that point. shock and disbelief from labour supporters as some of the party's most rock—solid strongholds turn blue for the first time ever. an extraordinary night for the scottish national party as they take almost all of the seats in scotland, raising serious questions about the future of the union. given what i fear a tory government now has in store for scotland, that right to choose our own future has never been more important or more urgent. the snp's triumph costs the lib dems their leader — jo swinson loses her seat in east dunbartonshire. a new dawn, a new political

landscape — we hearfrom people who helped change the country's future at a crucial moment in our history. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six from downing street, where borisjohnson has promised to repay the trust of voters after leading the conservatives to an extraordinary election victory. the party won an 80—seat commons majority, its biggest since 1987.

the prime minister said he hoped his victory would bring "closure" to the brexit debate and "let the healing begin". but it was a very different night for labour — the party's worst performance since the 1930s. jeremy corbyn said he would not contest another general election as leader, but he hasn't stood down yet, despite calls for him to do so. the liberal democrats had a terrible night, too. their leader, jo swinson, lost her seat. in scotland, the snp made major gains, winning 48 of the 59 seats available. it was a night that saw the electoral map redrawn. with all seats declared, this is the state of the parties. the conservatives have won 365 seats, labour 203, the scottish national party a8, the liberal democrats 11, the dup eight and other parties 15. this was the electoral map at the last election, in 2017.

and this is how the map looks now, showing the conservatives have gained 47 seats, labour have lost 59, the snp gained 13, and the liberal democrats lost one. we'll be reporting from across the uk — hearing from the voters who helped change the political picture so dramatically and asking what the future now holds. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports now on the conservatives‘ dramatic victory. her report contains flash photography. cheering the power of surprise... the power of victory. well, we did it, we did it. we pulled it off, didn't we? the power of a prime minister with authority firmly in his hands. with this mandate and majority, we will at last be able to do what? get brexit done! you paid attention. like myjubilation brexit done! you paid attention. like my jubilation here brexit done! you paid attention. like myjubilation here they can keep the promise to leave the eu

next month. the will we, won't we fundamental tussle of brexit almost atan end. this election means getting brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the british people. but it didn't happenjust the british people. but it didn't happen just because of traditional tories but because of labour voters going over. the majority he craved, the start of the change. we have won votes a nd the start of the change. we have won votes and trust from people who have never voted conservative before. those people want change. we cannot, must not, must not let them down. and in delivering change, we must change too. let's get brexit done. at first, my friends, let's get brea kfast at first, my friends, let's get breakfast done. thank you all, thank you all very much for coming. thank

you all very much for coming. thank you all very much. boris, boris! borisjohnson has pulled off what is a genuinely historic victory, not just because it is the biggest conservative majority since the 805, but because he has had people who have never supported his party to vote for him. a mandate has been given tonight. the best we can like apple christmas present. we were like, omg, it apple christmas present. we were like, 0mg, it is going to happen. it i5 like, 0mg, it is going to happen. it is amazing and it did. he has won the right to call this home for five years now. are you going to resign, mr corbyn? fourjeremy corbyn, the end of his ambition to move a few short mile5 end of his ambition to move a few short miles to westminster. he is off by the spring if not before.

short miles to westminster. he is off by the spring if not beforelj off by the spring if not before.|j did off by the spring if not before.” did everything i could. of course, i put elite might take responsibility for putting the manifesto forward. the manifesto was universally supported throughout our party and movement. as i said in my own result la st movement. as i said in my own result last night, we don't give up on the eternal hopes of a more decent society. our exit poll is suggesting that there will be a conservative majority. from the start, it was obvious what might be coming. 0ne majority. from the start, it was obvious what might be coming. one of the very first results of blyth valley in northumberland, labour since 1950, turned tory. the new mp almost overwhelmed by the scale of that change. and i would like to thank boris. and through the night, labour's routes appeared to 5hrivel, whether in yorkshire, the midlands... i'm just whether in yorkshire, the midlands... i'mjust sorry whether in yorkshire, the midlands... i'm just sorry we have let people down. or the north-east, seat after seat flipped red to blue.

jeremy corbyn‘s hopes came crashing down. in a jeremy corbyn's hopes came crashing down. in a fateful moment, ju5t jeremy corbyn's hopes came crashing down. in a fateful moment, just as he took to the stage in islington, sedgefield, the seat of tony blair, held by labour for all time, sedgefield, the seat of tony blair, held by labourfor all time, broke for borisjohnson too. the foundations of labour‘s victories pa55 crumbling before our eyes, the party falling more heavily where people voted lee. the lib dems had a crushing night too. just a few weeks ago,jo crushing night too. just a few weeks ago, jo swinson claimed she could be prime minister. in the middle of the night, though, she even lost her own place in parliament. she closed the day neither an mp nor a party leader. all of us who share an alternative vi5ion leader. all of us who share an alternative vision for society have alternative vision for society have a responsibility to learn from this result and find new answers. they lost at the hands of the tories and the snp too, who cleaned up. look at the snp too, who cleaned up. look at the first minister, unable to hide her glee a5

the first minister, unable to hide her glee as the results came through. scotland yellow, england 110w through. scotland yellow, england now largely blue. the union uneasy, another demand for a vote on independence on the way.” acknowledge that not everyone who voted snp yesterday is ready to support independence. whether or not scotla nd support independence. whether or not scotland becomes an independent country mu5t scotland becomes an independent country must be a matter for the people who live here. the map moved in northern ireland as well. the dup leader at westminster, in northern ireland as well. the dup leaderat westminster, nigel in northern ireland as well. the dup leader at westminster, nigel dodd5, lost his seat, and for the first time, more nationalists than unioni5t5 were chosen by voters, pulling at the union's thread. the brexit party scooped up votes but didn't cross the bar for any 5eat5 of their own. we are going to leave the european union now at the end of january. nor did any of those who switched allegiances in the last few

torrid year5. switched allegiances in the last few torrid years. all these folding pieces created one clear picture — one man securely in charge, even though his journey gave discomfort to many voters. but with this victory, bori5 to many voters. but with this victory, borisjohnson to many voters. but with this victory, boris johnson has to many voters. but with this victory, borisjohnson has secured at least a major chapter in the kind of history books he likes to write. he won't be a footnote now. his first task, to finish what they started. with an appeal to the 48 and the 52. to those who did not vote for us orfor and the 52. to those who did not vote for us or for me, and the 52. to those who did not vote for us orfor me, and who wa nted vote for us orfor me, and who wanted and perhaps 5till vote for us orfor me, and who wanted and perhaps still want to remain in the eu, and i want you to know that we in this one nation conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy towards the other nations of europe. then an unlikely claim, perhaps, a post—election promise of peace and

goodwill. this country deserves a breakfrom goodwill. this country deserves a break from wrangling, a goodwill. this country deserves a breakfrom wrangling, a break goodwill. this country deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics, and a permanent break from talking about brexit. thank you all very much, and happy chri5tma5. thank you. yet, this politician has been unafraid to provoke, unafraid to gamble. he now swears he will govern for us all. with five years and a convincing majority, he has time to succeed or to stumble. for today, though, he who dared did win. laura is with me now. seeing some of those labour strongholds go blue for the first time in almost a century was staggering. what will it mean for borisjohnson and his government now? fir5t first and most straightforward, he has a thumping majority, so when mp5 get back to the commons, he can enter the chamber as prime minister at the dispatch box confident that behind him are not people looking for a way to shove him out. behind him are people who are fully signed

up him are people who are fully signed up to his programme, fully committed, and that means by the end of next month, in a matter of weeks, he will have been able to get the law is required to take us out of the eu through parliament, and that means we are heading out of the eu at the end of next month. that's the biggest thing of all to say about this. second of all, though, in terms of what it means for our political landscape, it means at least for the next few years, probably five, we are looking at something very different, a tory party representing communities in places where they have never represented the voices of our viewers in different pockets of the country tonight. that is going to sound and feel different, look different. the bigger question, though, is that a permanent shift — has borisjohnson really managed today to redraw the map for ever? in truth, sophie, as labour has discovered to its cost today, the map is always moving, and parties never own their voters. it is voters

who have the right to be represented on the right for parties to listen to them. laura, for now, thank you. labour has suffered its worst election defeat since 1935. not only that, it lost seats in its traditional heartlands — labour strongholds in the midlands, wales and the north of england that had never voted conservative before. 0ur political correspondent, alex forsyth, reports from stoke—on—trent central, which voted to leave the eu and has now gone blue for the first time in its history. stoke—on—trent‘s industrial past is still printed on the skyline. with roots in coal, steel, and famously, ceramics. this was a labour stronghold for decades. not any more. stoke—on—trent central now has a conservative mp, the first since the seat‘s creation in 1950. jo gideon, businesswoman and until now a councillor in kent, thinks she knows why she won here.

it's a city that feels it's been neglected and ignored for a long time, and so, in a sense, the fact that they voted 70% for brexit and it didn't happen was just another example of how nobody is listening to them. and so it was a call to be listened to, really. more people here voted to leave than any other city in the uk. the tories tapped into brexit frustration in labor ——labour‘s heartlands. john is a former miner. i've always voted labour, all my life. until this time. who did you vote for? conservatives. why is that? to get something done on this brexit business. so you switch from labour to conservatives. yes, i don't like jeremy corbyn, for one. he is trying to put the country back years. some in labour claim their policy offer was crowded out by brexit, which was the tories' relentless focus. the conservatives deliberately put brexit front and centre of their campaign, hoping it

would transcend traditional party loyalties, and so targeting areas that voted to leave in the midlands and the north, and that's where they gained support. while labour wrestles with the reasons behind this result, the former mp here called it a catastrophe. last night, laying blame on the party's leaders. in stoke—on—trent, we are going to have another five years of tory government. probably with three conservative mps, and the damage and the untold horrors they will unleash in stoke—on—trent, i believe, lays firmly at the door of those running the national parties campaign, and the decisions that they have made about where to target and these sort of brexit response that they should have made. in this city, some loyal to labour are surprised at the extent of their losses. i'll never be a tory voter. i was born in 1985, my mum was a single mother, we were at the tail end of the thatcher decade, and we were really struggling. and to see such a working—class, and hard—working and friendly city like stoke—on—trent be turned is just so sad to see. the country's political map does look very different today,

with some who've never voted tory now making that choice. i've got to go with boris, i'm afraid. so, yeah, times are changing. they most certainly are. alex forsyth, bbc news, stoke—on—trent. despite all the losses, jeremy corbyn insisted that he was proud of his party's manifesto and defended his record as labour leader. he said would stand down after what he called a "period of relection" — although some of his mp5 have called on him to resign immediately. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, looks now at labour's future. there are some flashing images in his report. here comes the leader. and there goes the leader. after last night, the media was keen to catchjeremy corbyn's thoughts in defeat. 0ne cameraman — who took a nasty tumble — especially. are you going to say sorry? what about all the mp5 who lost their seats! a lot keener than he was to talk to them.

it was a car crash, labour's election, and this trip didn't go too well either. now, mr corbyn's not rushing the next leader's election. what i hope is there will be a period where we can have a good discussion within the party, and i think that's healthy and that's to be very welcome. and i hope those that were inspired by my manifesto will actuallyjoin the party and take part in that discussion. it's up to them to set a programme for when an election will take place. it will be in the early part of next year. jeremy corbyn didn't put it like this, but he failed badly. and now he and his team are looking for someone they'd like to carry on, what they've always described as the "socialist struggle." there is no clear sign who that person might be. so, they want time to plan and prepare for the succession. labour's hurt won't heal quickly. remainers and leavers blaming each other, or the leader for pleasing no one. centrists raged at devoted corbyn followers for turning off traditional supporters. corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep.

everyone knew that he couldn't lead the working class out of a paper bag. the party's splitting ahead of a new year leadership contest. those who embraced politics the corbyn way, and blame brexit for defeat, and those who say labour and its leader got it wrong. i feel sorry for all those constituents up and down the country in all four corners of this country. they need a labour government, and they've been badly let down by the labour party, and we've delivered a hard right conservative government with the most conservative prime minister in history, and i think we should all reflect on that. unfortunately, our labour heartlands, working—class heart lands in the north and the midlands, they voted leave. they, undoubtedly, felt that labour had let them down. so who could join the race to lead labour? there is rebecca long—bailey, but does she want the job? angela rayner‘s been mentioned, perhaps as deputy leader though, kier starmer‘a a heavyweight, a center ground pro—european, which could put some off. emily thornberry is a strong

performer, and looks ambitious. then lisa nandi, young, left—leaning, looks like another contender, and jess phillips, outspoken, combative, maybe the wild card of the contest. jeremy corbyn's heading for a quieter life, to his admirers, a heroic loser, to critics, the man who consigned labour to a fourth term out of office. they will all be fighting over labour's future before jeremy corbyn's even out of sight. john pienaar, bbc news. nicola sturgeon says borisjohnson has no right to stand in the way of another scottish independence referendum after her party made huge gains — winning 48 of scotland's 59 seats. 0ur scotland editor, sarah smith, looks at what the snp's victory means for scotland and the united kingdom. posing with some school kids this morning, nicola sturgeon has one clear demand — that their political future be decided by scottish voters. she believes that winning 80% of the seats in scotland means she must now be allowed to hold

another independence referendum but legally she needs borisjohnson to agree. so, to the prime minister, let me be very clear. this is not simply a demand that i or the snp are making, 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. the prospect of another independence referendum is not imminent. borisjohnson will refuse permission. but that will put his government on a constitutional collision course with the party that dominates scotland. and that risks further increase in support for scottish independence. the conservative campaign focused almost entirely on rejecting another referendum. but it's the tories who were rejected in over half of their scottish seats. the people who gave us that vote, who voted for us last night, did so on the basis that we would stand

up for scotland's place in the united kingdom. and i'm simply not prepared to betray the votes of those people for us last night. the lib dem leader, jo swinson, was defeated by the snp landslide. have you lost your seat, ms swinson? will you resign from the party? but scottish labour suffered the greatest humiliation. they were even beaten by a candidate who'd been suspended from the snp. and have only one surviving scottish mp. i'm sick at standing at lecterns during general election campaigns and saying, it's been a difficult night for the labour party. this party must listen, and this party must respond. or this party will die. the entire city of glasgow is now represented by the snp. and ready for another referendum. i definitely think we should be allowed to have an independence referendum, and i think that steps should be taken if possible to force

them to make this happen, to let this happen. ijust think that... england's going one way, scotland's going another, so we should be able to decide for ourselves. if they are there, obviously, we get the go—ahead from westminster, it will happen again, obviously, we have to make our choice again. i'll be voting no again. a whole new crop of mp5 is a victory for the snp. but it may not be enough to seize the price they desire, the chance to vote again on independence. nicola sturgeon insists she did not wa nt to nicola sturgeon insists she did not want to see borisjohnson returned as prime minister. but she knows that a tory government in westminster, while scotland voted the opposite way, is the result that is most likely to advance her greatest ambition. namely, is most likely to advance her greatestambition. namely, scottish independence. and she will begin her campaign toward that aim next week

when she will formally request the permission and the power to have another independence referendum. sarah, thank you. jo swinson losing her seat to the snp and therefore herjob as the liberal democrat leader capped a dismal night for her party. they will now hold a leadership election in the new year. the lib dems entered the election campaign buoyed by a bounce in the polls and a number of high—profile defections swelling their ranks. but their pledge to cancel brexit altogether without a vote has been blamed for alienating many voters. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, reports on the liberal democrats' future. her leadership over — it didn't even last five months. jo swinson's decision to push for this election backfired. some blame herfor hardening the party's anti—brexit message and for claiming she could be prime minister, which few took seriously. i'm proud that liberal democrats have been the unapologetic voice of remain in this election. giving people the chance

to choose to stop brexit. obviously, it hasn't worked. and she spoke about the personal criticism that has come her way. being myself, whether people attacked my vision or my voice, my ideas or my earrings... one of the realities of smashing glass ceilings is that a lot of broken glass comes down on your head. once again, party workers left distraught after a dismal general election performance. many blame a shift in policy in september when the lib dems said they would cancel brexit if they won the election. it was distinctive but undemocratic, according to some. i think we have, in a way, become more extreme and we came across as a party with an extreme position on brexit. and we gave people a positive reason to vote against us, including many traditional supporters. for most lib dem candidates today, there were messages of

commiseration, not congratulation. in wimbledon, paul kohler narrowly lost out. he thinks it's time for labour and the lib dems to work together. we need to learn some lessons, we have to give credit to our opponents but learn the lesson. they combined. the brexit party and the conservatives formed an alliance, that's why we lost. progressive liberals didn't. we formed an alliance with the greens. progressive liberals in the labour party weren't on board. there were some huge increases in the lib dem vote. almost 4 million backed them this time. but in many places it wasn't enough. wimbledon was a typical liberal democrat target seat, held by the conservatives and an area that voted heavily to remain in the eu. the party ran an energetic local campaign but so did labour. the remmain vote was split and a conservative re—elected with a majority ofjust over 600. this election was a huge opportunity for the lib dems but their dreams

of stopping brexit have fallen by the wayside. vicki young, bbc news, wimbledon. the conservatives did lose votes in the south of england and scotland, but these were balanced by all the gains in the rest of england and wales. labour, meanwhile, lost ground in every nation and region across britain. reeta chakra barti has been looking at the some of the key results in detail. i'm going to show you the final scoreboard. the state of the uk parties. as you can see, the conservatives having a very good night, gaining 47 seats. labour losing 59 seats, a bad night for them. and the snp also putting in a strong performance, gaining 13 seats. i want to show you how the vote share changed compared to the 2017 election. what is so interesting here is the conservatives actually only put on one point in terms of vote share. the labour vote share dropped sharply, by eight points. and the difference between the two has allowed the conservatives

to surge forward and gain all those seats. i want show you some more detail about conservative gains from labour. here are some really old, traditional labour strongholds that have just tumbled to the conservatives. seats like sedgefield, tony blair's old seat — a seat where he once had a 25,000 majority. that has now gone conservative. great grimsby, labour since the war, now conservative. and bassetlaw in nottinghamshire, now a conservative seat. let me show you what happened to the labour vote. down by 25 points. the labour vote completely collapsing in bassetlaw and that represents a swing from labour to conservative of 18%. that is the biggest swing of the night that we saw. i want to show you one more thing, which is the different way in which the country voted depending on whether people were in strongly leave seats are strongly remain seats. as you can see, the conservatives doing well in those leave seats and labour's vote dropping sharply. but both the main parties losing share of the vote

in the strongly remain seats. again, it's the difference between the two performances that is important here. the conservatives performed less badly than labour and therefore were able to pick up seats. well, you can find out much more detail on all of this, including your own results in your own constituency, all on the bbc news website. in northern ireland nationalist mp5 outnumber unionist mp5 for the first time — but it was a tough night for both the dup and sinn fein, who saw their vote significantly reduced. emma vardy, reports on the result in northern ireland. her report contains some flash photography. a major player leaving the stage. nigel dodds, so prominent for the dup at westminster. a time of great influence in the brexit process now over for the party and for him. i am absolutely very disappointed, notjust for north belfast but actually for northern ireland

that they are losing such a great advocate in nigel dodds. john finucane's win is highly symbolic for republicans. the son of a solicitor murdered by loyalists during the troubles. this is a watershed moment for northern ireland. north belfast now with a nationalist mp for the first time — ousting a veteran politician in a night of bitter blows for the democratic unionists. i do want to acknowledge the fact that everybody who voted for me tonight aren't necessarily sinn fein supporters. they do have issues with some of our policies. they stretched themselves on this but they did so because of the nature of the threat that brexit is. it is a threat that transcended party politics. and in a place marked by division, a remarkable win for the centre ground. the cross—community alliance party taking only its second ever westminster seat. and a return to westminster for the sdlp — moderate nationalists who want to see a united ireland attracting voters away from the more uncompromising sinn fein, who don't

take their seats in parliament. but none of the northern ireland parties back borisjohnson's brexit deal and attention now turns to this place. 0ld differences must be overcome if a devolved government is to return here to stormont after nearly three years. and talks are supposed to restart on monday. but the face of northern ireland is changing. the hardliners now punished by voters for years of paralysis. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. labour's heartlands in wales were not safe from the conservatives' sweep to power, where they gained six seats. the tories took seats that have been red for generations, like the industrial town of bridgend, and they also from there, our correspondent, hywel griffith, reports on the results in wales.