LONDON — British voters have sent a strong message to their political leaders: They don’t want the “hard” Brexit proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May. In a dramatic turnaround from the Tory landslide in recent local elections, Britain opted for a return to competitive politics, giving the Labour Party a result beyond its wildest dreams and forcing Mrs May into seeking another coalition to keep her Conservatives in power. In that respect she can forget about enlisting the support of the Tory’s pre-2015 election coalition partner, after the now slowly recovering Liberal Democrats were badly damaged by that alliance. Mrs May’s own political career is in the balance after she is perceived to have over-reached in a pre-election manifesto widely criticised as too left wing. Faced with forecast annihilation, the official opposition Labour Party’s response was to offer voters an “all you can eat” manifesto carrying unrealistic promises. The Tory gamble failed miserably – instead of the romp to a 100 seat majority, with only a handful of constituencies outstanding it’s clear the party will record a net loss to under 320 seats, short of the 326 seats required to rule. Labour, by contrast, enjoyed a 10% swing with a gain of over 30 seats. Financial markets reacted negatively with the British pound falling sharply last night after exit polls correctly predicted a hung Parliament. In the past month the Pound has fallen from R17.43 to R16.37 – almost a third of that decline happening last night. – Alec Hogg
By Donwald Pressly*
COMMENT: The snap election called by British Prime Minister Theresa May appears to have backfired for the Conservative Party with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party making significant gains. SkyNews has made predictions of a hung parliament – but the Conservatives appear still in line to lead a coalition government – or possibly a government without an overall majority in parliament. The Cape Messenger editor Donwald Pressly writes that it looks most likely that the Democratic Unionist Party will be drawn into a national coalition government led by the Tories which could put a different spin on the Brexit move out of the European Union going forward.
A small opposition party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), may be hold the Conservative Party’s key card to continue in power after the United Kingdom national election saw the Conservative Party losing 12 seats in the House of Commons. It has already stated that it could help May muster a majority – but it would be looking at finding the “best deal” for Northern Ireland, where it is based.
While Jeremy Corbyn has called for Theresa May to resign as Prime Minister, the Conservatives are well ahead with 313 seats – of 650 seats in the House of Commons. Labour 258 is up 29 seats, the Scottish National Party has 34 but lost 21 seats, the Liberal Democrats had 12 – it is up by four – and the DUP had 10 at 7.10 a.m (up by 2). Any party needs 326 seats for an overall majority in the House of Commons. 643 have been called so far out of 650.
Significantly the other big ‘loser’ in the election, Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party, still retained the most seats in Scotland. But the Conservative Party made the most gains of any party in Scotland – with 10 seats in a territory which has been unfriendly to it for some time. Alex Salmond the former SNP leader, lost his seat to a Conservative in Gordon, Scotland.
Early this morning Theresa May returned to the Conservative headquarters without the normal fanfare which greeted predecessors such as David Cameron and Margaret Thatcher. She entered the building alone – without crowds of happy onlookers.
While much of England’s southern constituencies – traditionally Tory territory – are still to be declared, the Conservatives got a shock when it was announced that a previously safe seat of Canterbury had gone to the Labour Party.
Liberal Democrats regain seats after 2015 setback but Clegg loses his seat
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, returned to his home in London looking cheerful. He was greeted at the door by supporters and journalists. Former Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg lost his parliamentary seat, Sheffield Hallam, but the party posted five gains overall – including Sir Vince Cable, who lost his seat in 2015. However, the LD has already made it known it will not re-enter a coalition partnership – after it was punished in the polls in 2015 after Clegg served as former Tory Prime Minister David Cameron’s deputy prime minister.
David Cameron gambled and lost. Theresa May gambled and lost. Guys: when the fun stops, stop
— Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) June 9, 2017
Anna Soubry, a Tory MP from Broxtowe who scraped in with under a 1,000 vote majority, said May was “in a very difficult place”. She said the Tories had led a “pretty dreadful” campaign, pointing to mixed messages about social welfare including taking food parcels away from children.
May ‘has to consider position’ says top MP
“She (May) now has to consider her position,” said Soubry. “Theresa did put her mark on this campaign… she takes responsibility as she always does…and I know she will.” Soubry, however, would not be drawn on whether she had a preferred candidate for prime minister. “It was a dreadful (results’) night,” she acknowledged, noting that many of her good liberal conservative friends had lost their seats.
It is not at all clear that May will be out of office, despite the relatively poor results for the Conservatives. Jacob William Rees-Mogg, another Tory MP for East Somerset, said the party would not change its leadership now.
Theresa May has no plans to resign.
She had no plans to call a snap election, either.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) June 9, 2017
Both Sky News and BBC World were predicting a hung parliament – as the Tories would fall about 12 seats shy of 326 seats for an overall majority.
The DUP Simon Hamilton said his party had increased its seats in the Commons to 10 from eight. It puts his party in contention for a coalition with the Conservatives.
The Democratic Unionist Party is the largest unionist political party in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and now led by Arlene Foster, it is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
As northern Ireland voted against Brexit last year, a Conservative-DUP coalition government could put a different spin on the withdrawal from the European Union.
- Donwald Pressly is editor of Cape Messenger.
