The government’s agenda for the year was laid out in the Queen’s Speech, delivered in the House of Lords by Queen Elizabeth II at the state opening of Parliament. It then moves to debate and eventual symbolic vote in the House of Commons.

“We have no time to waste and we begin immediately with the most radical Queen’s Speech in a generation to deliver on the priorities of the British people,” Johnson said in the foreword to the speech.

It comes a week after Johnson’s Conservative Party stormed to an 80-seat House of Commons majority in a general election that exceeded Tory expectations and gives the prime minister a clear mandate to get his agenda through Parliament.

The top priority was Britain’s departure from the European Union, having run on the slogan “Get Brexit Done.” The government intends to pass Johnson’s withdrawal bill — negotiated with the E.U. — before the end of January, and announced Thursday that the new version of the bill means that a post-Brexit transition period must end by the end of 2020.

On the question of immigration, which shadowed the Brexit issue, the Johnson government intends to introduce an Australian-style points system that it says will prioritize high-skilled immigrants who speak English and who don’t have criminal records.

It will also introduce a fast-track visa system to encourage doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to come to the U.K., as part of an effort to combat a staff shortage in the country’s struggling National Health Service.

Initial exit polls predicted that Johnson’s Conservative Party would win 368 seats in the country’s 650-seat lower chamber, while Labour would pick up just 191 seats — which would give the Tories a majority of 86. As the night went on, U.K. broadcasters updated their forecasts to suggest that that majority could be slightly lower, possibly around a 76-seat majority.

Whatever the eventual number will be, it will mark a significant victory for the Tories, and a historic drubbing for the Labour Party of a kind they haven’t seen since the 1930s.

The night saw shock after shock as traditional Labour areas such as Burnley, Redcar, Stoke-on-Trent and Wrexham — with some seats that have been held by the party for decades — turn to the Conservatives. Many of those seats, often in working-class areas, had voted in favour of Britain’s departure from the European Union in 2016 and had soured at the Labour Party’s anti-Brexit stance

Johnson had called an early election to break the deadlock over Brexit, asking the British public to give him a majority so he could get his withdrawal agreement — negotiated with the E.U. — through the chamber, where it previously had been rejected. His message to voters tired of the drama since the 2016 referendum was simple: “Get Brexit done.”

As the results came in, Johnson declared that his party had been given “a powerful new mandate.”

“I’d like to thank the people of this country for voting in a December election that we didn’t want to call, but that I think has turned out to be an historic election that gives us now…a chance to respect the democratic will of the British people, to change this country for the better and to unleash the potential of the entire people of this country and this is what we will now do,” he said.

Johnson faced off against Corbyn’s Labour Party, which had struggled to lay out a clear vision for Brexit, backing a possible second referendum while also promising to get a new deal with the E.U. — but with Corbyn not committing to supporting that eventual deal.

Using the trending Twitter hashtag “#dogsatpollingstations,” voters were showing up to the polls Thursday with their best pals posting photographic evidence of the experience on social media.

“Forget politics, this is the main reason to log onto Twitter today,” one Twitter user joked. “Delighted to announce there were dogs at my polling station this morning,” another tweeted.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of the Conservative Party, joined in on the fun when he brought his dog, a Jack Russell cross named Dilyn, to vote with him in London.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party’s mayor of London, also brought his pooch named Luna to the polls and posted a video online encouraging people to vote.

Some dogs went to the polls dressed up — in fun costumes from a bumblebee to Santa Claus — while other dogs’ owners announced who they were voting for online.

It was not immediately clear how many dogs actually got inside voting booths. According to the electoral commission’s rules, animals, “apart from assistance dogs, are not usually allowed inside polling stations so will need to be secured outside if you do decide to take them with you.”

It is hoped Thursday’s election, which is being held more than two years ahead of schedule, will break Britain’s political impasse over Brexit and determine its future relationship with the European Union. Additionally, all 650 seats in the House of Commons seats are up for grabs.

Trump was interviewed by phone on Thursday by Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit party and rival of Johnson in the upcoming election on December 12.

The president said that a U.S.-U.K. trade deal would be impossible under the current terms of Brexit, which Johnson reached with the European Union.

“We want to do trade with the U.K. and they want to do trade with us. And to be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can’t do it,” Trump told Farage on his radio show on London station LBC, according to the Wall Street Journal. “You can’t trade. We can’t make a trade deal with the U.K.”

The British government, however, has said that under Johnson’s Brexit agreement, the U.K. would be removed from the EU’s customs area and it would be free of the EU’s regulations, allowing it to sign bilateral trade deals with the U.S. and other countries.

Trump’s appearance on Farage’s show sends a mixed political signal, as Trump and Johnson have typically been closely aligned. Johnson’s left-wing rival, Jeremy Corbyn, accused him in August of intending to lead the U.K. “straight into the arms” of Trump. Farage’s Brexit party criticizes Johnson from the right, calling for an abrupt split from the union rather than any sort of agreement.

On Thursday, Johnson on Twitter accused Trump of “ trying to interfere in UK election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected” after Trump said that Johnson would be “so bad” for Britain if elected.

Britain agreed Wednesday to hold a general election on Dec. 12 in an effort to shake up Parliament and break the months-long Brexit stalemate. The European Union has extended Britain’s Brexit deadline to Jan. 31.

Even so, Trump said Johnson is a “fantastic man” who is “exactly the right guy for the times.” He said he’d like to see an electoral pact between Johnson’s Conservatives and Farage’s Brexit Party, saying the two together would be an “unstoppable force.” Neither party has indicated such a deal is on the table.

The House of Commons consented the legislation by a wide margin of 438 votes to 20. Making the first December election since 1923 possible.

However, the bill yet to be approved by the Lords could become law before the week runs out.

There will be a five-week campaign up to polling day if that goes into effect.

The PM, Boris Johnson believes that the citizens of Britain must be “given a choice” over Brexit’s future and the country as a whole.

The Brexit deal and Parliamentary deadlock have been the cause of the UK’s exit being further extended to 31^st January. Nonetheless, Boris Johnson hopes that the election will give him a fresh mandate.

“It is time to come together to get Brexit done,” The PM said as he exited a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives held shortly after the vote.

The EU has granted Britain’s request to extend its exit from the union until January 31st, 2020. Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council announced today in a tweet saying, ‘ the EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK’s request for a #Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020. The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure’.

Juncker tweeted “Where there is a will, there is a deal we have one! It’s a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK and it is testament to our commitment to find solutions,”

Affirming Junker’s statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also on Thursday announced what he said was a “great new deal” for Britain to leave the European Union, as leaders gathered in Brussels for talks.

He tweeted this “We’ve got a great new deal that takes back control”.

“Absolutely not and indeed as I say the High Court in England plainly agrees with us but the Supreme Court has to decide,” he told the BBC, when asked if he lied to her when he gave his reasons to suspend Parliament.

The queen suspended Parliament this week until a Queen’s Speech on Oct. 14. She did so on the advice of Johnson. While it is a standard move in parliamentary procedure, it is controversial as well, with the U.K.’s Oct. 31 deadline for leaving the E.U. looming large.

Johnson, however, advised the queen that it was because his government needs to launch a new domestic agenda starting next month. It is a generally accepted rule that the monarch should not be forced to take a side in a political debate wherever possible, and doing so is seen as a significant breach of parliamentary protocol.

The English High Court said that decision was not one for the courts, but Scotland’s highest court ruled Wednesday that it was illegal “because it had the purpose of stymieing Parliament.”

However on Thursday an Irish court rejected the claim that it was illegal because it risked undermining the Northern Irish peace process. As Johnson said, it now goes to the country’s Supreme Court for a final call.

Johnson replaced Prime Minister Theresa May by promising to get Britain out of the E.U. with or without a formal withdrawal agreement by the deadline. But last week Parliament passed a bill ordering him to seek a Brexit delay if there is no deal formed.

Johnson responded by calling for a general election, but that did not get enough votes to be formally called. The opposition does not want an election until after a delay has been achieved. It is not yet clear if Johnson will seek that delay as Parliament has instructed.

The government was also forced by lawmakers to release the government’s assessment of the fallout from a no-deal Brexit. The document, “Operation Yellowhammer” predicts huge delays at ports and possible food and medicine shortages. The government has downplayed those predictions, saying they were made before the government started accelerating preparations.

Johnson faces a significant anti-Brexit bloc in Parliament, as well as pressure from the right in the form of the Brexit Party.

While leader Nigel Farage has offered Johnson an electoral pact if he sticks with a no-deal Brexit, he could also prove to be a thorn in Johnson’s side if the government delays the departure further and pro-Brexit Tories defect to the Brexit Party in any future election.

After meeting Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson has officially become Britain’s Prime Minister and will consequently form a “cabinet for modern Britain” as outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May took a parting shot at opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, urging him to quit.

In his very first speech as the Prime Minister of Britain on the steps of Downing Street, Johnson offered an optimistic vision of Britain and his administration that will “crack” the Brexit conundrum and unleash the full potential of the country.

“The British people have had enough of waiting and the time has come to act to give strong leadership. My job is to serve you the people,” he said.

He also promised to address social problems and improve education, saying he will “take personal responsibility”, adding “the buck stops here.”

In a message to the EU, he also said that even if he wants to have a deal, he will also prepare for a potential no-deal fallout “not because we want that outcome, but because it is only common sense to prepare.”

“Yes, there will be difficulties … but if there is one thing that has really sapped the confidence of business is not the decisions we have taken, it is our refusal to take decisions.”

He ended his speech saying “I am standing before you today, to tell you the British people, that those critics are wrong – the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters are going to get it wrong again.”

May appeared at the Parliament for PMQs earlier today for the last time as the country’s premier, a session that lasted 63 minutes and appears to be the longest PMQs in the country’s history.

While the atmosphere remained cordial, she clashed with Corbyn for the last time, who suggested that she should join the opposition to stop “the “reckless” Johnson’s government that promised to lead the country out of the EU with or without a deal.

She ended the exchange by calling on Corbyn to resign, saying “perhaps I could just finish my exchange with him by saying this: as a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same?”

While no withdrawal deal has yet to be approved by MPs, The UK is currently due to leave the EU on April 12th.

Prime Minister Theresa May proposed, If UK MPs come to terms on withdrawing on time, the UK should be able to leave before 23rd May when the European Parliamentary election is set to hold.

But in case they do not reach a consensus, Mrs May said the UK would prepare to field candidates in the coming elections.

Requesting the extension in preparation of a summit of EU leaders next Wednesday, Mrs May has written to European Council President Donald Tusk.

She asked for an extension to June 30 at the last summit, which happened not long before 29 March – the date the UK was set to have left the EU.

But she was, however, offered a short delay to 12 April – the date that the UK must say whether or not it intends to be part of the European Parliamentary elections – or up until May 22nd if UK MPs had agreed to the withdrawal deal negotiated with the EU. They voted it down for a third time just last week.

“Impasse cannot be allowed to continue, as it was creating uncertainty and doing damage to faith in politics in the UK.” Mrs May said in her letter.

Mrs May also said that MPs would be requested to vote on a series of options that the government “stands ready to abide by,” if “a single unified approach in the UK parliament” could not be established in talks with the Labour Party.

She wrote that the UK suggested an extension to the Brexit process until 30 June and “accepts the views of the European Council and would be under a legal obligation to hold the elections if the UK were still a member state of the EU on 23rd May 2019”.