BLUNDER WOMAN: DISASTER FOR MAY
BRITISH politics has been plunged into chaos after Prime Minister Theresa May’s early election gamble spectacularly backfired – costing her majority government and lumbering the UK with a hung parliament days before Brexit talks start.
With just one seat yet to declare last night Queensland time, her shell-shocked Conservatives had fallen well short of a majority, securing 318 seats, a loss of 13.
Defying polls and critics, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Opposition surged to gain 31 seats for a total of 261 in the 650-seat House of Commons.
Clearly stunned, Ms May bunkered down in Downing St with her closest aides, insisting she would not resign and trying to plot her next move.
Several Cabinet colleagues told her she had an obligation to stay on. But some senior Tories said she should “consider her position”.
There are increasing calls for the flamboyant Home Secretary Boris Johnson to take over, after his failed bid to suc- ceed David Cameron who quit as PM last year after the Brexit vote result.
Last night a consensus was building among Tories that Ms May, who staked her leadership on calling the election three years early while holding a 20-point polls lead, was in an untenable position long-term.
As neither party reached the 326 seats required to form a majority, the UK now has a hung parliament. The turnout was 69 per cent, the highest for 20 years, with the Tories winning 42 per cent of the vote and Labor 40 per cent.
Ms May – or potentially a new PM – may have to rely on Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party to pass laws. The DUP, which finished with 10 seats, has pledged support to the Conservatives.
Mr Corbyn yesterday called for her to quit, claiming Labour could form a government.
Britain is now rudderless ahead of the June 19 start of the formal negotiations to finalise its divorce from the European Union.
The pound plunged on the election result against the US dollar and the euro, but not to the extent it did after last July’s Brexit vote.
Ms May, who has squandered three years of majority government, indicated she would try to tough it out, saying the country needed a period of stability. “The Conservative Party has won the most seats and the most votes ... it will be incumbent on us to ensure we have that period of stability and that is exactly what we will do,’’ she said.
Another election within months would be unwelcome after two general elections and the Brexit referendum in the past two years.
Ms May called the poll seeking a bigger majority to give her a mandate to pursue her Brexit agenda, using the catchphrase “strong and stable”. But the poor result, which followed a flat sevenweek election campaign twice interrupted by terror attacks, leaves her diminished and vulnerable.
Mr Corbyn arrived at the count in his constituency of Islington North in London to rapturous applause from supporters, and immediately invited Ms May to depart as PM.
“If there is a message from tonight’s result it is this: the Prime Minister called the election, she wanted a mandate,’’ he said.
“The mandate she has got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence.
“I would have thought that was enough to go and make way for a government that will be truly representative of the people of this country.’’
There was one other electoral earthquake – the Scottish National Party lost its virtual one-party hold in Scotland, shedding 21 of its 56 seats and killing off leader Nicola Sturgeon’s hopes of a second independence referendum.