The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.

Labour would get 191, the Lib Dems 13, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.

In one of the first seats to declare, the Conservatives took Blyth Valley in north-east England from Labour.

This is the first time the former mining area will have a Conservative MP - NHS worker Ian Levy.

Newcastle Central was the first seat to declare, with Labour's Chi Onwurah holding on to the seat, with a reduced majority.

Labour also held Houghton and Sunderland South, again with a smaller majority.

The rest of the results are due to come in the early hours, although the final total will not be known until Friday lunchtime.

The results so far were broadly in line with the exit poll, polling expert Sir John Curtice told BBC News.

The exit poll was conducted by Ipsos Mori at 144 polling stations, with 22,790 interviews.

Exit polls have proved to be very accurate in recent years. In 2017 it correctly predicted a hung Parliament, with no overall winner, and in 2015 it predicted the Conservatives would be the largest party.

The pound surged against the dollar after the exit poll figures were announced, with sterling gaining 3% to $1.35 - its highest level since May last year. The pound also jumped to a three-and-a-half-year high against the euro.

It would be the biggest Conservative victory since 1987 and Labour's worst result since 1935, the poll suggests, with the party forecast to lose 71 seats.

The exit poll suggests the parties' shares of the vote reflected differences in how constituencies voted in the 2016 EU referendum.

It suggests the Tory strategy of targeting Leave-voting Labour seats in the Midlands and North of England might have paid off, with Boris Johnson's party expected to have made gains at the expense of Labour.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the government will move quickly to "get Brexit done" before Christmas by introducing legislation in Parliament, if it is returned to power.

Downing Street said in a statement that if the exit poll numbers are correct, there will be a minor cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, paving the way for Brexit on 31 January, would have its second Commons reading on Friday, 20 December.

A major reshuffle would take place in February, after the UK has left the EU, No 10 added, with a Budget statement in March.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC the exit poll was "extremely disappointing" for Labour if it was correct.

"I thought it would be closer. I think most people thought the polls were narrowing," he added.

Mr McDonnell said the election had been dominated by Brexit and Labour had been hoping "other issues could cut through".

He told the BBC's Andrew Neil decisions would be made about party leader Jeremy Corbyn's future when the actual results were in.

'Get Brexit done'

This is the UK's third general election in less than five years - and the first one to take place in December in nearly 100 years - and has been dominated by Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

Mr Johnson focused relentlessly on a single message - "get Brexit done" - promising to take the UK out of the EU by 31 January 2020 if he got a majority.

His main rival for No 10, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, promised voters another referendum with a choice between a renegotiated Leave deal and remaining in the bloc.

But Labour primarily campaigned on a promise to end austerity by increasing spending on public services and the National Health Service.

The Liberal Democrats promised to cancel Brexit if leader Jo Swinson became prime minister, but opinion polls suggested their vote was squeezed during the course of the campaign.

Plaid Cymru are predicted to get three MPs, one less than they had before the election was called.

The Scottish National Party said a strong vote for them would effectively be a mandate for a second independence referendum.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that while the exit poll "suggests a good night" for the SNP, she added that "what it indicates UK-wide though is grim".

Caroline Lucas, who the exit poll suggests is set to remain the Green Party's only MP, tweeted: "If this exit poll is right, it's a devastating blow for our climate, for future generations and for our democracy.

"It's not just our relationship with the EU that will dominate the next few months, it will be our relationship with Scotland too."

A decisive moment came early on in the campaign when Nigel Farage announced his Brexit Party would not be standing in seats won by a Conservative at the 2017 general election to avoid splitting the Leave vote.

Mr Farage said his party had taken votes from Labour in Tory target seats, although he himself had spoiled his ballot paper "as I could not bring myself to vote Conservative".

The Conservatives began the campaign with a double-digit lead over Labour in the opinion polls, although this narrowed as polling day approached.