2019 United Kingdom general election

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019 to elect members of the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats, a net gain of 48, on 43.6% of the popular vote, the highest percentage for any party since the 1979 United Kingdom general election. Having failed to obtain a majority at the 2017 United Kingdom general election, the Conservative Party governed in minority with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This led to the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May with Boris Johnson becoming Conservative leader and Prime Minister in July 2019. Johnson could not persuade Parliament to approve a revised Brexit withdrawal agreement by the end of October, and chose to call for a snap election, which the House of Commons supported under the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019. Opinion polls showed a firm lead for the Conservatives against the opposition Labour Party throughout the campaign. The Conservatives won 365 seats, their highest number and proportion since 1987, and recorded their highest share of the popular vote since 1979; many of their gains were made in long-held Labour seats, dubbed the red wall, which had voted strongly for Leave in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. Labour won 202 seats, its lowest number and proportion since 1935. The Scottish National Party (SNP) made a net gain of 13 seats with 45% of the vote in Scotland, winning 48 of the 59 seats there. The Liberal Democrats improved their vote share to 11.6% but won only 11 seats, a net loss of one since the last election. The DUP won a plurality of seats in Northern Ireland. The Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland regained parliamentary representation as the DUP lost seats. The election result gave Johnson the mandate he sought from the electorate to formally implement the Exit Day of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31 January 2020 and repeal the European Communities Act 1972, thereby ending hopes of the Remain movement and those opposed to Brexit. Labour's defeat led to Jeremy Corbyn announcing his intention to resign, triggering a leadership election that was won by Keir Starmer.