Analysis: Johnson has Brexit momentum but risks remain

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson campaigned on one theme alone — “Get Brexit done” — and if the results of an exit poll projection are correct, that just may happen.

The UK exit poll predicts that Johnson’s Conservatives won a substantial victory Thursday night in the country’s general election.

But even if Johnson pulls Britain out of the European Union by the January 31 deadline, he will still face the mountainous task of negotiating a complex trade deal with the EU by the end of next year — a task many experts say is not possible.

Evercore analyst Krishna Guha is warning that that significant Brexit-related risks still loom. Guha says Britain could still crash out of the EU without a trade deal — a so-called hard Brexit — at the end of 2020 if Johnson does not seek an extension of the Brexit transition period.

— AP