A hung parliament has been declared this morning in the United Kingdom (UK), as results confirm a decrease in votes for British prime minister, Theresa May’s Conservative Party and an increase for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.
A hung parliament means no party has won enough seats in a general election to have a majority in the House of Commons.
With 650 Parliamentary seats up for grabs, while the Conservative Party has fallen significantly short of the 326 majority seat vote, the Labour Party has had a boost of 30 seats more than what they had during the 2015 elections, with a predicted finish of over 260 seats.
This undermines the very reason a snap election was called by Theresa May; to gain a large mandate through an overwhelming majority in order to navigate a ‘strong and stable’ Brexit.
What does this mean for the future of British politics?
There are many possibilities: Coalitions may be formed with other parties, who have won parliamentary seats, in order to have a working British government.
But this seems unlikely, because not only do the smaller parties, who have won minimal seats, such as Plaid Cymru contribute too little to get a majority for the Conservatives, parties who have won somewhat of a significant number, such as the Liberal Democrats with approximately 12 seats, will be wary of another coalition with the Conservatives in light of previous crackdowns, including a 300 per cent rise in university tuition fees.
Scrapping tuition fees, a policy stated in the Labour Manifesto, has contributed to an increase in young voters, leading to an increase in the number of overall voters in the UK.
The other possibility is that the UK will have another general election in 2017, in order to see a majority government take lead.
May is subsequently facing calls to step down after early election results suggest that she failed to secure a stronger mandate in yesterday’s general election.
Corbyn urged May to resign, saying she should “go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country”.
Refusing to step down, May at this stage has called for stability following a tense political climate.
“At this time, more than anything else, this country needs a period of stability. If, as the indications have shown and if this is correct, the Conservative Party has won the most seats and probably the most votes, then it will be incumbent on us to ensure that we have that period of stability and that is exactly what we will do,” May stated.
This will perhaps also lead to a reshuffling within the Conservative Party itself, with some analysts saying the current British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson is the leading candidate to take over as leader of the Conservative Party if Theresa May were to be ousted.
For now, Theresa May continues as Prime Minister. Her days, however, are numbered.
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