Financial markets are giving their first reaction to the early evidence of a record-breaking win for Labour in the general election. A respected exit poll by Ipsos, carried out for broadcasters including Sky News, was the first to put an estimate on the size of the majority expected for Sir Keir Starmer's party. The 170 seat figure was in line with some predictions reported in polling in the run-up to the vote.
The implied figure will shift right up until 8am when the opening bell is rung. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said of the prospects: 'The UK stock market barely moved the last time the country switched from a Conservative to Labour government and the same might happen... if Keir Starmer's party is declared victorious', he wrote.