Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ruling Conservatives are set to win an 86-seat majority in today's UK general election, according to exit polls for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
Polling polls in the UK suggest the Tories will win 368 MPs - 50 more than in the 2017 election.
Jeremy Corbyn's Labor is expected to win 191 MPs, the Liberal Democrats 13, the Brexit Party none and the Scottish National Party (SNP) 55.
The Green Party will still have only one MP, and the Welsh social democratic party "Plaid Camry" will lose one seat out of a total of three, according to the survey.
The first general election results will begin at midnight British time (01:00 CET), with final results expected on Friday.
If the results of the exit polls are confirmed, it will be the biggest victory for the Tories in a parliamentary election since Margaret Thatcher's success in 1979.
If it turns out to be historic, that victory will give Johnson a free hand to implement Great Britain's exit from the EU at the end of January, to the satisfaction of 52 percent of Britons who voted for it in the 2016 referendum.
In the exit poll, voters are asked to fill out a dummy ballot when they leave the polling station, which is supposed to show how they just voted.
On Thursday, the "Ipsos Mori" agency conducted an exit poll among 22.790 voters at 144 polling stations.
Exit polls have proven to be very accurate in recent years.
In 2017, it was correctly predicted that there would be no winner, and in 2015, the Conservatives would be the strongest party, reminds the BBC.
Thursday's election was the UK's third in less than five years - and the first in December for almost 100 years - and the run-up to the election was dominated by the issue of leaving the European Union, which has been hotly debated since the 2016 referendum.
Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson focused on just one campaign message: "Get Brexit done!", promising that Great Britain will leave the EU by January 31, 2020 if he wins a parliamentary majority in the election.
His main rival for "10 Downing Street", Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, has promised voters another referendum: to choose between the decision to renegotiate the exit from the EU or to remain in the Union.
However, Labor primarily based its election campaign on the promise to end years of budget austerity by increasing spending on public services and the National Health Service.
The Liberal Democrats have vowed to cancel Brexit if their boss Jo Swinson becomes Prime Minister, but opinion polls showed voters were abandoning them during the campaign.
The Liberal Democrats had an agreement with the Green Party and the Welsh party "Plaid Kemri" not to run against them in some constituencies in order to maximize the use of the votes of supporters of those two parties already committed to the UK remaining in the EU.
The Scottish National Party estimated that winning a large number of votes would practically give it a "mandate" for a second referendum on the independence of that part of the United Kingdom.
The defining moment came early in the campaign, when Nigel Farage announced that his Brexit Party would not field candidates in constituencies won by the Conservatives in the 2017 general election, in order to avoid splitting the Leave vote. EU.
The Conservatives started the campaign with a double-digit lead over Labor in the polls, but that lead narrowed as polling day approached.
The Conservatives have focused their pro-Brexit message on Labor constituencies in the Midlands and the North of England where the 2016 referendum voted to leave the EU.
Boris Johnson came under fire before the election for avoiding answers about why he refused to take part in the party leaders' TV debate on climate change, and for avoiding a half-hour interview with the BBC, which other party leaders accepted.
The British decided on the fate of Brexit
The British today chose between preparing the way for exiting the European Union (Brexit) under the leadership of Johnson or for another referendum that could eventually overturn the decision to leave the European Union.
Having failed to implement Brexit by October 31, Johnson called an election to break the political deadlock that has prevented Britain from leaving and shaken confidence in the economy.
The face of the campaign to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, Johnson, 55, used the slogan "Let's get Brexit done" in the run-up to today's election, promising to break gridlock and spend more on health, education and the police.
His main opponent, Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (70), has promised to increase public spending, nationalize key services, tax the rich, and another Brexit referendum.
"We can have a Conservative majority government, which will implement Brexit and unleash Britain's potential," Johnson said ahead of the vote.
Corbyn said the Conservatives were the party of "billionaires" while Labor represented the many.
"You can vote for despair and the dishonesty of this government, or you can vote Labor and get a government that can bring hope for the future," Corbyn said.
The British, who for the last three years have been suffering fierce fights between politicians due to the chaotic break with the European Union, went to the polls today in the rain to find a way out of the Brexit crisis in a deeply divided country.
Voters cast their ballots in schools, pubs and community centers after a five-week campaign marked by the smearing of opponents and the spread of misinformation.
Elections in Britain are traditionally held every four or five years. However, in October, MPs voted to hold another election in two years. This is the first election since 1974 to be held during the winter and the first in December since 1923.
Two of the most unconventional British politicians of recent years crossed paths in the election.
Johnson and Corbyn offer diametrically opposed visions for the world's fifth largest economy.
Brexit was the focus of Johnson's carefully crafted campaign, but he shied away from anything more radical.
Corbyn emphasized the radical transformation of the country, which has long been associated with free market liberalism.
Johnson, a former mayor of London, born in New York, came to the head of the government in July.
His predecessor, Theresa May, resigned after failing to get parliamentary support for a Brexit deal with the EU, and then her party lost its majority in early elections.
Johnson defied critics by striking a new deal with the EU, but struggled to navigate the maze of a divided British parliament and was defeated by opponents, who he accused of disregarding the will of the people.
In 2016, the United Kingdom voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the EU. However, the parliament is paralyzed because the MPs cannot agree on how, when and if the country should leave the EU at all.
Voters were in trouble
Many voters were faced with an unpleasant choice today. The popularity of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn is on the decline, and citizens pointed out the negative character traits of both.
Johnson was criticized for broken promises, lies and offensive statements, starting with the one when he called the children of single mothers "ignorant, aggressive and illegal" to comparing Muslim women who wear burkas to "mailboxes".
Corbyn was accused of allowing anti-Semitism to spread within the Labor Party. Opponents describe him as a renegade Marxist with past ties to Hamas and the IRA.
However, many voters voted for Labor because of its stance on social issues.
Labor tried to base its campaign on promises to help the National Health Service, a much-respected institution which, after nine years of austerity under Conservative governments, is struggling to meet the needs of citizens.
One of the moments that marked the campaign is a photo of a sick four-year-old child sleeping on the hospital floor because there are no available beds. Johnson initially refused to even look at the photo when it was shown to him and gave the impression that he did not sympathize with the boy.
The photo, which was first published by the Yorkshire Evening Post, flooded social media in the final days of the campaign.
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