‘Aur ek baar, Cameron sarkar’ has clicked
Incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron's return to 10 Downing Street is a vote for consistency and continuation. At the same time, Thursday's parliamentary election result also indicates a moment of change in British politics. From India's point of view, the Conservative Party's impressive victory is a welcome development. Though there is bipartisan consensus on the India-UK relationship, the Cameron Government has been bullish on India, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge in New Delhi.
There has been a slew of high-level visits in this past year and the general consensus is that bilateral ties are on the upswing. Also, initial numbers indicate that the Indian-origin community in Britain voted overwhelmingly for the Conservative Party. This is in keeping with recent voting patterns that have shown a definite shift of the Indian immigrant vote from labour to Tory.
The Conservative Party's decisive victory has surprised many, having surpassed the expectations of many in the party as well. Up until voting day, political pundits were predicting either a split mandate or, at best, a slim victory for the Conservatives. Essentially, they said the election would see a lot of petty fighting, leading to some scratches and bruises but no real harm would be done. Instead, as the exit polls predicted, the election turned out to be a near bloodbath, eliminating almost every other challenger and producing one clear victor. On the one hand, the Conservative Party gobbled up its former junior coalition partner, the liberal Democrats.
On the other, the labour Party, battered across the country, suffered a debilitating blow even in its traditional stronghold of Scotland. Both losing parties now face an existential crisis. The liberal Democrats sought to move away from their more radical left profile and present itself as a party for governance, not protests. This was rejected by its core voters who, perhaps, are yet to forgive the party for its alliance with the Conservatives. The labour Party tried to return to a more classical left profile but its insipid leadership did not inspire confidence. So poor has been its performance that the relatively new and smaller Scottish Nationalist Party was able to take over a huge chunk of labour’s electoral base in Scotland.
In a sense, this election has been a game-changer. Both labour and the liberal Democrats will have to go through a complete overhaul of policies and leadership. Especially for Messrs Edward Miliband and ‘Nick’ Clegg, who led their respective parties to ignominious defeats, their political future seems bleak. Another party that is also looking at a dead end is the UK Independence Party. Ukip just about managed to open its account but its leader, Mr Nigel Farage, faced a tough battle in his own constituency. On the other side, there is the rise of the SNP. It has gone from six MPs in Westminster to 56 (out of a total of 59 Scottish seats). For SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, this is a moment of reckoning. What this victory means for the British union, only time will tell. For Prime Minister Cameron, the win is not just an affirmation of his policies but proof of his ability to increase the vote-share of an incumbent regime — a rare political feat.