UK snap elections: Tories losing majority is a huge snub for Theresa May
Once bitten, twice shy? Not so, if you’re a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. Repeating the hubristic decision of her predecessor David Cameron, UK prime minister Theresa May is now facing the brunt of her whim to hold a “snap general election”, in the fallout of the 2016 Brexit and to ensure a “strong and stable” government.
Only, the election verdict is anything but.
In a major upset to the Tories, the Conservative party has lost the majority in UK parliament, as it’s a hung house now. Under the leadership of Theresa May, the Tories have seen a major erosion of their seats, coming down to 319, while the Labour party, under the stewardship of the maverick and principled progressive politician Jeremy Corbyn, has seen a revival, at 261, unprecedented since the fall of Tony Blair.
The House of parliament in Westminster elects 650 MPs in all, and about 45.8 million people vote. 326/650 is the line to ensure majority in the UK parliament.
The election results at a glance are as follows:
This is a surprise surge for the Labour, as most exit polls had predicted a comfortable Tory win, and there’s shock and disbelief in the Conservative camp. May herself has not issued a statement (at the time of writing this piece) yet, but there are indications that she’d go back on her own words and not resign, continuing to rule a minority government or a coalition regime, propped up by a third party, possibly the Scottish Nationalist Party, of Nicola Sturgeon.
We give a quick summation of what it means for the major parties, and the future of Britain, Brexit and its ties with Europe, America and the world at large.
Conservatives and Theresa May
The whole point of the snap elections was PM Theresa May improving her lot and consolidating a significant majority in the UK parliament, in the lines of Margaret Thatcher. May wanted a “hard Brexit”, with more curbs on immigration, tightening the laws and scope for policing at the expense of human rights.
But with the Conservatives falling short of the 326 majority, and scoring about 42 per cent of the vote-share, it’s a precarious situation as the rest of the 58 per cent, with the exception of UKIP, which has not won a single seat, do not want a hard Brexit.
The biggest snub is certainly of May, who called the election an exercise in self-centred political ego-massage. The verdict, which saw a mammoth turnout from UK’s young voters – almost 70 per cent from 31 per cent in the case of 2016 Brexit – is definitely a sign that May could be one of the most unpopular leaders among Britain’s young and progressive. Brexit saw a 52 per cent Leave vote, but the turnout was much lower, and even then Theresa May belonged to the Remain campaign of David Cameron.
Despite her soaring unpopularity, May has indicated that she’d continue to be the PM and not step down, irrespective of the harsh razor-thin verdict.
Labour and Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn, who was written off before the elections by a Tory-led smear campaign in the notorious tabloid press of the UK, has emerged stronger and how. Delivering a superb revival of the Labour party, far exceeding both Gordon Brown and Ed Milliband, his two predecessors, Corbyn has ensured a spike of 261 seats, an improvement of over 31 since the last general elections.
The turnout was 69 per cent, overall, the highest since 1997, the year that catapulted Tony Blair to the British electoral stage, and sealed Labour’s domination for the next decade.
Corbyn has often been compared to US’ Bernie Sanders, and has also taken on POTUS Donald Trump against the latter’s racist tweets and policies. Though Corbyn has called for May to resign, it seems this MP from Islington North is the new darling of the world press, or at least someone the British press cannot afford to ignore any longer.
Post election results, Corbyn declared: “Politics has changed. Politics isn’t going back into the box where it was before. What’s happened is people have said they’ve had quite enough of austerity politics.”
Corbyn may still become the next UK prime minister if a coalition is patched with parties like SNP, Lib Dems, and the Greens.
Implications for Brexit, EU
The snap election results show that Britain might be divided, but its young people are firmly on the side on Labour, inclusion and a pro-EU tilt despite the imminent Brexit, which will take place over the next two years. With Brexit negotiations just two weeks away, this means PM May might find it very difficult to retain the moral authority to curb immigration to and from the EU countries, as well as impose funding cuts for government programmes.
It seems Britain is getting ready for more political turbulence, as Corbyn-led Labour has been suitably energised and is a clear favourite among the city-dwellers and the young voters.
Fact sheet
Liberal Democrat and former deputy PM Nick Clegg has lost his seat to a Labour candidate in a shock defeat. Lib-Dems have got seven per cent of the vote share, however.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP has received 35 seats. She might prop up May’s Conservative party with external support, if she’s not embracing Corbyn’s Labour.