GBP/AUD surges in early trading on Friday, after the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won a major victory in the national election held yesterday. This will give him the power to break the Brexit deadlock and take the UK out of the European bloc.
Currently, the pair is trading at 1.9409, up 1.90% as of 6:14 AM UTC. The price has managed to recover yesterday’s losses and update the highest level since June 2016. During the election day, the price fell about 1%, touching the daily low at 1.8946.
The pound is driven by the Tories’ surprising win, which defies multiple pre-election polls that suggested Johnson’s lead was narrowing.
The first exit poll from the election, prepared by BBC, Sky, and ITV, showed that the Conservatives secured 368 seats, while the opposition Labour party took 191 seats.
According to the exit poll results, Johnson’s party marks its biggest win since 1987, while the Labours saw their biggest loss since 1935.
The official results, with 67.3% of the votes being already processed at the time of writing, the Conservative Party came in at 44% or 363 seats, while the Labours were 32% or 203 seats. Another surprise is the Scottish National Party (SNP), which have 48 seats at the moment.
All in all, Johnson was right to call for an early election. He sought this national poll to turn the Parliament to his side. The PM said earlier today:
“At this stage it does look as though this one-nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate, to get Brexit done and not just to get Brexit done but to unite this country and to take it forward.”
Elsewhere, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, announced today that he would step down, citing the disappointing results. However, he didn’t reveal a date for his departure.
“I will discuss with our party and ensure there is now a process of reflection on this result and the policies that the party will take going forward,” Corbyn said.
European leaders welcomed Johnson’s victory, which provides clarity on Brexit.