COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
How the General Election battles were won – and lost – across the United Kingdom
SCOTLAND
Dr Coree Brown Swan, Edinburgh University
It’s hugely significant for the SNP to gain from both Labour and the Conservatives.
The SNP had two messages: stop Brexit and Boris; a vote for the SNP was an endorsement of the right to decide on independence.
Ruth Davidson was a popular leader and in her absence the Scottish party may struggle.
Labour had a bad election in Scotland – as it did at UK level.
The Lib Dems ran a campaign with rejection of Brexit and talk of Jo Swinson becoming Prime Minister. It put people off.
ENGLAND
Professor Tony Travers, London School of Economics
Towns that had voted Labour for generations (and where people often hated Thatcherism) have given their votes to the Conservatives.
In the south, though to a lesser degree, Labour lost relatively few of its seats.
Party policy will surely now shift. The Tories will have to protect the manufacturing and mining sectors that employ many of their new voters. Brexit trade deals will have to accommodate this reality.
WALES
Professor Laura McAllister, Cardiff University
Brexit was a fundamental backdrop to the result in Wales, where people voted in favour of Leave, albeit marginally.
There was a clear vote to be had amongst voters who were Labour and Leave and the Conservatives targeted these very effectively. They captured six seats of Labour’s 28 seats.
The get brexit done message seems to have resonated.
Plaid Cymru used it as a preparatory ground for the Welsh election in 2021 yet held onto the four seats they had.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Dr Elodie Fabre, Queen’s University Belfast
The big story of this election in Northern Ireland is the good results of the Alliance Party, who chose to stand in every constituency and increased their vote in each one, and of the SDLP, who won two seats and increased their overall share of the vote.
A constitutional issue behind their success is Brexit – and dissatisfaction with the way the Democratic Unionist Party handled the issue in parts of Northern Ireland.