Could Boris Johnson’s election victory spell end of the United Kingdom?

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence

In Northern Ireland, pressure is also likely to grow for a referendum on unity with the Republic of Ireland

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Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:11pm, 13 Dec 2019Updated: 8:50pm, 13 Dec 2019

The election result was hailed as a victory for English, Scottish and Irish nationalism – and it could spell the end of the United Kingdom.

Boris Johnson’s resounding triumph will allow him to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union next month but it could spell the break-up of the union that has bound England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for centuries.

While Johnson’s Conservative Party swept the opposition aside across much of England on his promise to get Brexit done, Scottish nationalists captured 48 of the 59 parliamentary seats in Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, supporters of a united Ireland won more seats than those in the province who want to remain part of the United Kingdom for the first time since the 1921 partition which divided the British north from the Irish Republic in the south.

A truck passes an anti-Brexit pro-Irish unity billboard on the border between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Irish Republic. Photo: AFP

Throughout the election campaign, Johnson said he was committed to the union and denied accusations that his Brexit deal would create an economic barrier between the British mainland and Northern Ireland.

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