Thursday, May 7, 2015

THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: An Upset In Britain

Only about a two-thirds of the parliamentary seats in the 2015
British elections have been decided, but all indications
are that the ruling Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister
David Cameron, is heading for a major and historic upset over
the Labour and Liberal Parties.

Opinion polls right up to election day had predicted a very
close election, with the possibility of Labour, under its lead Ed
Milliband, taking over the government. Media commentators
had frequently suggested that the Tories (Conservatives) had
failed to persuade U.K. voters to return them to office.

The voters have proved the pollsters and commentators wrong.

It is not only a bad night for the leftist Labour Party, but for the
moderate left of center Liberal Party, under Deputy Prime
Minister Nick Clegg, which had formed a coalition with the
Conservatives five years ago when they won 58 seats. Indications
are that the Liberals will win only about 10 seats this year. A big
winner tonight is also going to be the leftist Scottish National
Party (SNP) which is likely to win more than 50 seats. Virtually
all of their gains will come at the expense of Labour. UKIP, a far
right protest party, got a sizable number of votes, but less than
expected, and is expected to win only very few seats.

The major suspense  of the night  is whether, when all the votes
are counted, will the Conservatives have an outright majority in
the parliament, and thus not have to form any coalitions to control
the government. The SNP leader had offered to form a coalition
with Labour to block Cameron’s return to office, but Milliband
vowed not to accept their help. The deal now seems moot.

It will take 323 seats for effective control the parliament.
Projections early in the evening suggest the Tories will win
310-325 seats. In any event, David Cameron is expected to be
asked by Queen Elizabeth II to form the next government.

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Copyright (c) by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.


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