Labour takes heart from UK election shock

Theresa May’s snap vote backfires in hung parliament

Theresa May was last night refusing to quit as Prime Minister despite her disastrous election night as the British vote ended in a hung parliament.

May’s decision to call a snap election backfired in spectacular fashion yesterday as she lost the Conservatives’ majority in the House of Commons and Labour made significant gains.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged May to resign as he said she should “go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country”.

But an ashen- faced May insisted the country needed a “period of stabilit y”. She was expected to go to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen for permission to form a government.

New Zealand Labour leader Andrew Little was delighted by a result he described as “unexpected” and said he would text Corbyn today to congratulate him on his campaign.

Asked if it gave him hope for his own chances in the New Zealand election, he said: “We don’t work on hope. We work on plans.”

He was careful not to take too much heart from it, saying the political landscape in Britain was very different to that in New Zealand and every general election campaign was different.

“The circumstances are quite different. It’s obviously a more volatile electorate than we have here, it’s the third return to the ballot box in as many years.”

However, it did show a campaign which focused on bread and butter issues for voters did work. “It tells you a strong, disciplined campaign about real i ssues and things people care about has the best chance of success. You can’t campaign on vacuous ideas like ‘ strong, stable leadership’ or a manifesto that doesn’t say anything.”

He put the result down to a bad campaign by May promising “more of the same” compared to Labour’s which offered something new.

“An unexpected number of Britons have gone ‘ we want something different’ and that has affected Parliament in a completely unexpected way.”

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Bill English said he would not yet comment.

English met May on his trip to the UK in January, and described her as “engaging”, “a very determined woman and a clear thinker”.

“I was left with the impression these are the kind of qualities you need, the UK needs, to get through what is going to be a complex process.”

May had also promised New Zealand would be one of those first in line for a free trade agreement with the UK after the Brexit process and raised the possibility of a Commonwealth free trade region.

Other Labour MPs were also celebrating the result. Finance spokes-