Theresa May’s gamble fails

For the second time in a year, British voters have knocked their political establishment off its pedestal and elected chaos. It happened first in last June’s Brexit referendum, when, by the narrowest of margins and in defiance of then-prime minister David Cameron, the country voted to leave the European Union. No one yet knows where this will lead except that the divorce promises to be messy.

History repeated itself on Thursday when, also by a narrow margin, the country defied Cameron’s successor, Prime Minister Theresa May, and denied her the strong mandate she sought to negotiate Brexit.

While May’s Conservatives won more seats than any other party and will try to continue as a minority government, to all intents and purposes they lost this election. No one knows if they can recover. Like Cameron, she was blinded by hubris to the deep divisions, seething discontent and growing mistrust of traditional politics running rampant through her country.

From an ocean away, Canadians can learn from the British experience. Politicians such as May, who play by the same old rules, can no longer count on the same old results.

Workers who have lost their jobs to automation or companies relocating offshore feel shut out of the general prosperity and ill-served by what they consider to be a self-serving political elite. And they’re ready to vote for extreme change. While similar forces are at work in Canada, our federal leaders have largely steered away from extreme solutions in favour of moderation.

This wise course is being followed by the Trudeau government and we hope it continues.

Waterloo (Ont.) Region Record