British Election Results: Prime Minister Theresa May in a Precarious Position

Prime Minister Theresa May is in a precarious position after her party failed to win a majority in the British elections that took place on the 8th of June.

May’s Conservative party won more seats than the any other party however failed to achieve the 50% of seats required to hold a majority in the House of Commons, so must now seek the support of another party in order to form a government and pass legislation.

Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016 when her predecessor David Cameron resigned following the EU referendum. She hoped to achieve her own mandate and secure her position before beginning negotiations for Britain’s exit of the European Union. However, as the results came in on Thursday night, it became apparent that the Conservative party would not achieve the landslide victory that May had expected when she called the snap election.

The Conservatives’ main opposition, The Labour Party, did much better than predicted, winning 40% of seats and notably gaining seats in Scottish constituencies which they had previously lost to the SNP (Scottish National Party). The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has received a lot of criticism both from the media and from within his own party. However he remains popular among younger voters, inspiring a record 72% turnout among 18-24 year olds and seeing Labour win high numbers of votes in areas with large student populations.

Corbyn has called for Theresa May to resign as Prime Minister which she has refused to do so, despite also receiving criticism from her own party and blame for the disastrous results.

May is now in talks with Arlene Foster who leads the DUP (Democratic Union Party) in Northern Ireland. It is expected that they will form a deal in which the DUP will support a Conservative lead minority government with May remaining as Prime Minister.