Cameron sweeps to unexpected triumph in British election

By Michelle Nurse On May 8, 2015

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron gives a thumb up as he arrives with his wife Samantha at the Conservative Party headquarters in London, Britain May 8, 2015. (Photo via REUTERS/Eddie Keogh) — Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron gives a thumb up as he arrives with his wife Samantha at the Conservative Party headquarters in London, Britain May 8, 2015. (Photo via REUTERS/Eddie Keogh)

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron won a stunning election victory in Britain, confounding poll predictions that the vote would be the closest in decades to sweep into office for another five years with a clear majority and his Labour opponents in tatters.

The sterling currency, bonds and shares surged on a result that reversed near-universal expectations of an inconclusive “hung parliament”, in which Cameron would have had to jockey for power with Labour rival Ed Miliband.

Instead, Cameron met Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace to accept a mandate to form the first majority Conservative government since John Major’s surprise victory in 1992.