Euphoria over, May gets a humble pie but focus must be on Brexit negotiations
There is much excitement in the British media in the aftermath of the third election in the UK in three years. It stems from the possibility of yet another election in a few months after the general election 2017 delivered a hung Parliament. Welcome to the world of Indian-style coalition politics in the British Isles. The two largest parties in the UK, Conservatives and labour, ended up fairly close when it came to the proportion of votes they got. However, given the British first-past-the-post system, the Conservatives fell just short of a majority. This is widely viewed as a colossal failure for them, as the party had a slim but absolute majority early elections. Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, had called elections to solidify her negotiating position with the European Commission after the British voted to leave the EU by a slender majority last year. May believed the opinion polls that showed her party getting a stunning victory and called a snap election, hoping that the much derided Jeremy Corbyn, an extreme left-wing leader of the labour party, would see her opposition implode. But as British commentators point out, May is no Maggie Thatcher and countless columns and television programmes derided her campaign and reluctance to attend the customary electoral debate, so confident she was of victory. A few weeks ahead of the general election, the Tory party won several local body elections which led to a sense of overconfidence. This, coupled with the labour party’s successful attempts to bring out younger voters, led to the collapse of May’s majority.
However, it was not all doon and gloom for the Tories. Falling just short of a majority, they are almost certain to lead the next British Government in a minority form. With the British public suffering from a sense of electoral fatigue, it is unlikely, though not improbable, that another election will be called before the end of the year. Also the Tories became the second largest party in Scotland, where they won most number of seats since the post-Falklands election of 1983. This makes another Independence referendum north of the English border unlikely and the British Union is the safest it has been for a long time. The fact that the British Government needs to negotiate their exit from the EU, the so-called ‘Brexit’ puts this Government under pressure.
The Conservatives came out strongly for a ‘hard’ Brexit and played up trading with their former colonies, including India. However, India quite rightly wanted easier trading rights and visa norms for its citizens. The sheer refusal to negotiate by the May Government even on trade issues and with the EU, make this result a good thing for international community. There is a hope that a chastened Tory Government would go for a softer Brexit and favorable trade negotiations with countries like India. There is one problem through, the likely coalition partner of the Tories are the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, who are anti-homosexual and anti-abortion. This has made many people fearful. British politics has rarely been this interesting. We must keep a keen eye on events at Westminster. And Indian politicians must take a lesson from this, never be overconfident in politics because the public's loves to feed politicians humble pie.