Today we saw yet another turbulence in United Kingdom’s political climate. Theresa May’s gambit of calling for reelections, even when her party enjoyed a comfortable majority in the parliament, failed miserably. Although the May led Tories managed to retain their ’single largest party’ position, they have now lost independent majority. Other conservative leaning parties like DUP have come to their rescue and helped them form a minority government, the political life expectancy of which is uncertain.
Theresa May was playing for a strong, authoritative entrance into the upcoming Brexit negotiations. She went all-in. But the results, to her dis‘may', have stripped away any hint of fortitude from her government. Her dream of consolidating voter base & rallying huge public support has gone to dust. In terms of absolute voting percentages, May has been able to improve her catchment by 5.5%, but the gains made by the Labour party were much higher at 9.5%. Thus, May's bold & ambitious move has backfired.
This is yet another example of a divided society that is unable to deliver a decisive verdict. The voters did not keep in mind the larger national consequences of this election and have further weakened their country's global position as a result.
But while many media channels are trashing these elections as a laughable gaffe or a political suicide, we must commend May for taking a chance- risking everything she has on this single decision. It’s easy to judge people in retrospect. But history dictates that no greatness is ever achieved without putting something important at stake. Going into this election, May fully understood the risks involved. She fell short of running an effective campaign to garner support. And even as she tenaciously clings on to power in an even more precarious position, I have no doubt that she will outlive this mess & outperform her critic’s expectations.
As someone aptly put it- ‘Nobody won these elections today, but the UK definitely lost'.
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