Hung Parliament: What It Means for the UK

Let’s all agree that politics in general are quit confusing and complicated. This is certainly the case as Brits wake up this morning to the news that their government has no official leader. In a tumultuous time when Party and country are divided many were surprised to wake up to this news. Politically speaking the United Kingdom currently has a Hung Parliament despite May’s Conservative Party losing the majority- a major blow for May and her party.

So, let’s break this down. Yesterday millions of Brits voted in one of the most highly anticipated General Election’s following the vote for Britain to be removed from the European Union. The main contenders were Conservative Tory Theresa May and Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn. In order to win the General Election and thus form a majority government, a party must secure at least 326 seats in the House of Commons. This constitutes more than half of all voters in the UK. What happened overnight? No party secured the 326 seats.

With May’s Conservative Party failing to win the majority the process becomes complicated for her to remain in power. Since no party secured the majority, May has to borrow the votes from other teams essentially in order to secure the 326 seats needed, but this becomes quite tricky if it isn’t tricky enough already. What May has to do now is form a coalition government with other parties to govern effectively. This morning she did just that. After speaking with Queen Elizabeth II to gain the monarch’s approval, May announced in front of 10 Downing Street, “I will now form a government— a government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country.”

May plans to maintain her position of power with the help of the Democratic Union Party (DUP) which is a Northern Irish party who won 10 seats. If all goes to plan, the Conservative and DUP Parties would secure 328 votes, two more than the majority. Nonetheless, there is a certain instability in this form of governing since no single party is at the helm. Following the news of a Conservative loss Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for May’s resignation saying, “She’s. . . lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support, and lost confidence. I would have thought that’s enough to go actually and make way for a government that will be truly representative of all of the people of this country.” Despite Corbyn’s strong call for her to step down she has remained firm in forming a coalition government.

As with many major events in politics only time will tell but with the Brexit talks to begin in just ten days with the EU uncertainty looms. Stay tuned to The Guardian and BBC News for the latest.