Conservative PM Theresa May leaves with her husband Philip after voting in the general election at a polling station in Maidenhead
Britain voted for a new Parliament and government yesterday after a campaign of three phases: the sleepy election, the surprising election and the security election.
At closing time, most analysis predicted a Conservative Party win, but not big enough to guarantee an overall majority at the Westminster parliament – which would represent a major defeat for sitting Prime Minister Theresa May, and a hung parliament.
What initially seemed the dullest campaign in memory has been transformed through unexpected missteps, surprise developments — and deadly attacks that have pushed national security to the top of the agenda.
The contenders. In the blue corner — traditional color of the Conservative Party — is May, a 60-year-old lawmaker known in her party as a quietly effective operator. A former advocate of remaining in the EU, she now promises to press forward with Brexit, taking Britain out of the bloc, reducing immigration and forging a new relationship with the U.K.’s European neighbors.
In the opposition red corner is the Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn, a 68-year-old socialist who was elected leader by party members two years ago — to the chagrin of many Labour lawmakers, who wanted a more centrist chief.
Critics say Corbyn, an advocate of nationalization and other old-left policies, embodies an outdated vision the party left behind during the “New Labour” years of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Supporters see him as a refreshingly authentic alternative to the pro-business, budget-cutting Conservatives.
Among smaller parties, the pro-independence Scottish National Party is seeking to repeat its 2015 near-sweep of seats in Scotland.
Big issues. Brexit, which had been expected to dominate the campaign, has played a surprisingly small role. Both Labour and the Conservatives say they will go through with the split, then seek the closest possible relationship with the EU. Neither party has provided many details of how this will be accomplished.
The election’s early stages pointed toward the predicted coronation for May and the Conservatives, campaigning under the slogan “strong and stable government.”
But it soon became clear that Corbyn’s anti-austerity message was resonating with many voters, especially the young. Labour has successfully painted the election as a choice between two visions of society, promising to govern “for the many, not the few.”
May’s tightly controlled campaign style, which saw her speaking largely to hand-picked groups of supporters, began to grate. And then the party produced an election manifesto that gave ammunition to critics.
Terrorism role. Two deadly attacks transformed the campaign, pushing terrorism and security to the top of the agenda.
The May 22 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester killed 22 people and halted campaigning for several days. When it resumed, May was facing questions about her record as Britain’s interior minister between 2010 and 2016 — years in which police budgets were cut and the number of officers fell by almost 20,000. After three attackers killed eight people in a vehicle and knife rampage around London Bridge, May said “enough is enough.”
When the campaign started, the Conservatives were as much as 20 points ahead in opinion polls. More recent surveys still point to victory for May — but not necessarily the landslide she seeks.
The latest opinion polls vary between a solid Conservative lead and a dead heat, with projected outcomes ranging from a Conservative majority of more than 100 to a “hung Parliament,” in which no party has a majority. AP
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