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British elections could mark setback for prime minister
Results could test prime minister’s hold on power
Prime Minister Theresa May was locked in a tight contest with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May was locked Thursday in an unexpectedly tight contest with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that could test her grip on power, according to exit polls released after voting ended in the country’s second parliamentary election in the past three years.
The results, if confirmed, would mark a stunning setback for May, who had called the vote to strengthen her hand before Brexit talks but could emerge grievously weakened.
The exit poll showed May’s Conservative Party winning 314 seats in Britain’s 650-member Parliament, leaving it short of the total needed for a majority and 17 behind the number it won in 2015. The Labour Party was projected to win 266 seats in Parliament, up 34 seats from the results two years ago.
The results raise questions about whether either major party will have enough support to form a government without resorting to forming a coalition — a scenario known as a hung parliament.
If it comes to that, it’s far from clear which parties would team up, or under what arrangements. A “progressive coalition” — including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Scottish and Welsh nationalists, and others — may have as many seats as the Conservatives. But the Conservatives would also have potential coalition partners if they fall short of a majority, including unionists in Northern Ireland.
In the early minutes after the exit polls’ release, the pound fell 2 percent as investors reacted to potential political turmoil. Sterling dropped to 1.2750 against the U.S. dollar, its lowest levels since May’s call for a snap election in April.
Conservatives were incredulous as the exit poll numbers emerged, saying they thought the results had undersold the party’s performance and that official tallies would give them a higher total.
“Let’s see some actual results to see if this is borne out,” British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC. He noted that the exit polls in 2015 initially pointed to a hung parliament but that the Conservatives ultimately won a majority.
Guardedly optimistic Labour leaders, meanwhile, were talking about the possibility of May having to step down.
“If it is right, I think her position is becoming increasingly untenable,” John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, told the BBC about May’s premiership.
Although exit polls have been imprecise in past elections, they are seen as a fairly reliable guide to the overall results.
The exit poll results, if accurate, will draw renewed scrutiny to May’s choice to gamble by going back on repeated promises not to call an election before the one that had been due in 2020. They could also leave Britain rudderless just as what are sure to be contentious talks are scheduled to get underway with European leaders over the terms of Brexit.
May in April broke her vows not to call a snap vote, telling the country that she needed a stronger mandate before she begins Brexit talks.
Corbyn had spent little time discussing Brexit. Like May, he favored “remain” during the referendum. But also like May, he has promised to follow through on voters’ desires for an exit.
The election follows a turbulent campaign that was interrupted by two masscasualty terrorist attacks and that had been marked by a faltering performance by May even as Corbyn exceeded expectations.
May came to power last year, emerging to claim the nation’s top job following the political wreckage of the country’s astonishing choice to leave the European Union.
Since then she has had only a slender majority in Parliament — won in a 2015 election when the country was governed by her predecessor, David Cameron — and she had feared that without a bigger cushion she would lack the latitude she needs for Brexit talks.
Early pre-election polls suggested she would get what she wanted, with the Conservatives enjoying leads of 20 points or more over the far-left Corbyn and his Labour Party.
But in the final days of campaigning, polls showed the Conservative lead withering to as little as a single point.
Corbyn faced a steep uphill challenge to sell himself as a potential prime minister. But he was widely seen to have mounted a far more credible challenge than many thought possible as he focused on ending seven years of Conservative austerity and shrinking the gap between rich and poor.