Boris Johnson declared that "no one can now refute" that he has a "stonking mandate" to deliver Brexit in a private victory speech to Conservative aides at 4:30am on Friday.
"No one can possibly dispute that it is the will of the British people to get Brexit done," he said in an audio recording passed to BuzzFeed News.
Listing the seats that the Tories gained from Labour, Johnson joked, "We've turned Redcar Bluecar."
He added: "We must understand now what an earthquake we have created. The way in which we have changed the political map in this country. We have to grapple with the consequences of that. We have to change our own party. We have to rise to the level of events. We have to rise to the challenge that the British people have given us."