Rachel Riley ‘burst into floods of tears’ after exit polls forecast Tory win

Countdown star Rachel Riley has told LBC host Nick Ferrari that she “burst into floods of tears” after exit polls predicted a Conservative majority.

Speaking after Boris Johnson led the Conservatives to a majority of 78, with just one undeclared seat remaining, she revealed: “Yesterday when I saw the first exit poll, I’ll be perfectly honest, I burst into floods tears and I couldn’t control the emotion because it’s been the hardest year.”

“I think I speak for a large number of Jews when I say it’s just tearing people apart,” she added, in a reference to the row over antisemitism.

Riley, who has been a vocal critic of the Labour Party on the issue, said: “A lot of the way we’ve been fighting is by using Twitter to expose things that have been happening and Twitter is largely skewed.

“So to actually see that the general public, Britain, rejects terrorists supporters, it rejects antisemitism, it rejects bigotry. It’s all the things that, as a Brit, I’m proud of my country for.”

But she added: “This is a very unpopular government for a large number of people and they didn’t have a credible opposition, so I don’t think it’s anything to celebrate, but it’s a huge relief, huge amounts of gratefulness.”

The Labour Party is under investigation by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission over allegations of antisemitism.