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Boris Johnson to Lose Brexit Vote by Four, Spread Betting Firm Says

Boris Johnson to Lose Brexit Vote by Four, Spread Betting Firm Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to lose the vote on his Brexit deal by four votes, according to Sporting Index, a spread betting firm that has correctly called earlier ballots.

If the vote goes ahead on Saturday, Johnson will win the backing of 316 lawmakers, compared with the 320 he needs, the spread betting firm said in an email. On Thursday, the firm predicted he’d win 313.

In April, on the final vote on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, the spread betting firm forecast she’d lose by 60 votes. She was defeated by 58. Earlier in March, when May lost by 149 votes, Sporting Index predicted a 148 loss. In January, when she was beaten by 230, it forecast 218.

Separately, 67% of all bets placed with Ladbrokes on the vote have favored the deal being rejected, the betting firm said. Still, it’s not clear if the vote will go ahead as planned on Saturday. Rebels expelled from his own Conservative Party are moving to postpone the decisive vote -- forcing the prime minister to seek a further extension from the bloc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net

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