UK PM Theresa May fails to secure majority in Parliament, pressured to resign
British media are reporting that even though British Prime Minister, Theresa May won the election, the conservative party failed to secure majority in Parliament.
Sky News reported early Friday that Labour held the seat of Southampton Test, guaranteeing that no party will reach the 326 seats necessary for an overall majority in the 650-seat Parliament. She made a terrible calculation by asking for an early election, hoping she would gain more seats for her party.
The result will create pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign, after she called a snap election in the hope of increasing the Conservative majority in Parliament to strengthen her position in Brexit negotiations. This backfired on her.
If confirmed, the result would lead to a period of political uncertainty and could throw Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union — due to start June 19 — into disarray.
The pound lost more than 2 cents against the dollar within seconds of the announcement but it is coming back up.
With more than two-thirds of the seats counted, the results appeared to be generally bearing out an exit poll that predicted the Conservatives would get 314 of the 650 seats in Parliament, down from 330, while the Labour Party was projected to win 266, up from 229.
As the results piled up, some form of minority or coalition government appeared increasingly likely. That raised the odds that an election called by May to provide “strong and stable government” would bring instability and the chance of yet another early.
During the campaign period which was interrupted twice by terrorist attacks, PM May showed little or lack of interest during her campaign.
The results confounded those who said the opposition Labour Party’s left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was electorally toxic. Written off by many pollsters, Labour surged in the final weeks of the campaign. It drew strong support from young people, who appeared to have turned out to vote in bigger-than-expected numbers.
Corbyn said the result means “politics has changed” and voters have rejected Conservative austerity. Speaking after being re-elected to his London seat, Corbyn said May should “go … and make way for a government that is truly representative of all the people of this country.”
The result was bad news for the Scottish National Party, which by early Friday had lost about 20 of its 54 seats.
May, who went into the election with a reputation for quiet competence, was criticized for a lackluster campaigning style and for a plan to force elderly people to pay more for their care, a proposal her opponents dubbed the “dementia tax.”
Corbyn did well but not well enough to win the election or secure majority votes.
