LONDON (Reuters) – Keir Starmer will be Britain’s next prime minister with his Labour Party set to win a massive majority in a parliamentary election, an exit poll on Thursday indicated, while Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are forecast to suffer historic losses.
Sterling was little moved, with traders having widely anticipated a Labour victory. It traded at around $1.2761 and 84.71 pence per euro just ahead of the exit poll.
Financial markets have been priced for a Labour government with a strong majority in parliament supporting its centre-left policies.
The poll showed Labour would win 410 seats in the 650-seat parliament, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.
COMMENTS:
CHRIS SCICLUNA, HEAD OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, DAIWA CAPITAL MARKETS, LONDON:
“The exit poll in line with expectations.
“A landslide for Labour means everything in the manifesto will be delivered. There are question marks around which taxes will raised to fund what is likely to be higher spending needs because the existing public sector projections are not particularly realistic for the current state of public services.”
(Compiled by Dhara Ranasinghe and Amanda Cooper.)
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