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Boris Johnson gets landslide mandate; Brexit is on
The Conservative Party won 365 of the 649 seats declared (the House of Commons’ strength is 650), comfortably passing the 326 majority mark that had eluded it in the 2017 midterm election, sending the pound north against the dollar.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson swept into Downing Street after the Conservative Party won a thumping majority on Friday, gaining what he called a “powerful new mandate to get Brexit done”, and potentially ending uncertainty in the United Kingdom (UK) since the 2016 EU referendum.
The Conservative Party won 365 of the 649 seats declared (the House of Commons’ strength is 650), comfortably passing the 326 majority mark that had eluded it in the 2017 midterm election, sending the pound north against the dollar.
Buoyed by the landslide win, Johnson, who called the election to resolve the Brexit imbroglio, said Brexit is now the “unarguable decision of the British people”, seeking to set at rest deep divisions in the country between those who want to remain or leave the European Union (EU).
Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who led the party to one of its worst election tallies of 203, said amid recriminations by colleagues that he would not lead the party into the next election, but will stay on in the post for a “period of reflection”.
Belying expectations, the Conservative Party won in several Labour strongholds after its message of “Get Brexit done” resonated more than Labour’s promise to hold another EU referendum and a greater state role by re-nationalising services such as railways and water.
Home secretary Priti Patel indicated that the Brexit process halted by parliamentary paralysis during 2019 will now be fast-tracked from next week so that the UK leaves the EU on the revised date of January 31.
A blame game began in Labour soon after the BBC’s exit poll indicated a big win for the Conservatives on Thursday night. Corbyn insisted the party’s policies were popular with the electorate and attacked the media’s portrayal of him and his party.
“I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign. I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward,” he said.
Several Labour candidates blamed the defeat squarely on Corbyn’s unpopularity and the party’s turn to the hard Left since he became its leader in 2015. Labour was in power from 1997 to 2010 at the height of New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, but has struggled since.
Former prime minister Theresa May, who retained her seat in Maidenhead, said she was “very pleased” with the result. She led a minority government after David Cameron stepped down in the wake of the 2016 referendum, but resigned earlier this year due to Brexit-related politics within the party.
She said: “At this election, people were faced with a very clear choice on whether they wanted to ensure Brexit was delivered and knew if a Conservative majority government got in they would deliver Brexit. This election was about ensuring we could get over this deadlock in parliament, get Brexit done and move on.”
Gareth Price, senior fellow at think tank Chatham House, said: “The new government will be keen on a free trade agreement with India, but depends whether India wants it or not. The India ties will also depend on how the UK’s post-Brexit relationship develops with the EU.”
