The Tories powered to victory with 362 seats, giving the party the largest majority it has had since Margaret Thatcher’s reign.

Sterling jumped 2.2% to $1.34 – its highest point since May 2018 – on hopes that a majority government would finally remove the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who retained his seat in Uxbridge with 25,351 votes, said the Conservative government “has been given a powerful new mandate, to get Brexit done”.

Johnson has vowed to take the UK out of the EU by January 31, 2020.