Editorial: A huge Labour majority will have major implications for politics in Northern Ireland

By the time you are reading this in the print edition of the newspaper, the general election results will be largely decided.​

But the BBC exit poll suggests that Labour has got a landslide, as was more or less a foregone conclusion.

For anything else to have happened, for example Labour to have won but short of an overall majority, would have meant the biggest polling error since the Second World War. However, it seems that the Conservatives, while they have had a dreadful result, have not had the meltdown that was distinctly possible. Had the Tories ended up with fewer seats than the Liberal Democrats, then the entire two-party political system would be in tatters.

It seems that the coming House of Commons make-up will be roughly the same as the 1997 parliament in Tony Blair’s first term with the Conservatives far down in seats, and with Labour enjoying a vast majority.

This has major implications for Northern Ireland. Keir Starmer seems to have moderate instincts with regard to the province, and in any event he has so many issues on his plate that he will probably not want to have problems here too.

But it is almost inconceivable that Labour will stand up to Irish partisanship over NI, which has become so pronounced since Brexit, and an emerging cross-party call in Dublin for planning for an all Ireland.

Now unionists will almost be hoping for Labour to move the UK closer to the EU in trade, to mitigate the Irish Sea border.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party seems to have had an implosion. If that is confirmed in the morning then it is good news for unionists.

The SNP has made a hash of running Scotland. Irish nationalists were longing for Scotland to quit the UK. That might yet happen, but seems to be less likely for the time being.