Notwithstanding the strong pro-Brexit vote, Boris Johnson and Tories retaining power in UK elections is good for India

Mumbai:

Voters in Great Britain have in an overwhelmingly strong pro-Brexit vote have let Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative party (Tories) retain power in the Westminster (Parliament) and allowed Boris Johnson keep his official residence at Number 10 (10 Downing Street). Of the results declared for 649 seats out of the total 650 seats on Friday, the Conservatives have won 364 seats with a majority of 78 seats with result of one seat left to be declared. While it is a strong pro-Brexit vote for the Tories, the pro-India Conservatives retaining power in United Kingdom (UK) is a good sign for India.

Why we say it is good for India, is because, it may be recalled that post abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, a sizeable Labour Party MP’s majority of whom hailed from Pakistan had petitioned the United Nations (UN), the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) seeking their intervention in the matter.

It is a different matter, that the Labour Party and Pakistan failed miserably in their attempts, traditionally the Labour Party has been known for its anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand. The defeat for Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour Party is being seen as a shattering of its anti-Semitism and global far left revolution. Expectedly, Jeremy Corbyn has offered to resign as the Labour Party leader. The continuation of the Conservatives in power ensures continuity of Great Britain’s support to India on Kashmir issue.

The British voter seems to have preferred supporting the Conservative Party on Brexit, rather than supporting The Brexit Party or the Independent Group for Change (formed by pro-Brexit MP’s from Conservative and Labour parties). The Brexit Party did not win a single seat, but polled 6,42,323 votes with a positive vote share of 2.0 percent. However, the Independent Group for Change polled just 10,006 votes with zero vote share.

Considering the 2016 EU Referendum, voters in 410 constituencies had voted the “Leave” vote and voters in 240 seats had voted the “Remain” vote. In todays elections, the Conservatives won 293 and Labour won 106 of the Leave vote seats. Whereas, out of the 240 Remain seats, the Conservatives won 71 seats and the Labour won 96 seats. The Conservatives and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) gained in the Leave seats, whereas the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), Liberal Democrat, Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru gained in the Remain vote seat’s.

The Conservatives increased their vote share in areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum, but lost votes in strong Remain seats of Scotland and London. As against this the Labour lost vote share in both the areas. However, there is no clear winner in the results in the Remain vote seats (anti-Brexit).

At the time of going to the press, out of the 650 seats, the Conservatives registered their biggest majority since 1980’s, winning 364 seats, the Labour Party won 203 seats, Scottish National Party (SNP) 48 seats, Liberal Democrat (Lib Dem) 11 seats, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 8 seats, Sinn Fein 7 seats, Plaid Cymru 4 seats, Social Democrat & Labour Party (SD&LP) 2 seats, Green Party 1 seat and  the Alliance Party 1. Whereas, The Brexit Party and the Independent Group for Change drew a complete blank.

Post election results, Prime Minister Boris Johnson remarked “I will repay the trust of the voters”. It is being seen as the biggest ever win for the Tories since the 1980’s and is being hailed as a mandate to take the UK out of the European Union (EU). The Conservatives swept through Labour Party strongholds in North England and Wales. The Labour Party losses outweighed the gains of the Conservatives. The Labour has its stronghold in London. Although the Labour Party won 203 seats, it overall lost 59 seats mostly to the Conservatives and the SNP.

The UK 2019 elections saw a massive swing in favor of the Conservatives and the SNP, and gains for SD&LP and the Alliance Party. The Conservatives gained 47 seats, the SNP 13 seats, SD&LP 2 seats and Alliance Party 1 seat. As against this, the Labour Party lost 59 seats from the 2017 elections and the Liberal Democrat’s lost 2 seats. The total turnout of voters in this election was 4.75 crore, which in percentage share was 67.3 percent, the change in voter turnout since the 2017 polls was minus 1.5 percent.

The SNP proved to be the giant killer as it snatched the Dunbartonshire East constituency of Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson. The party gained from all the three major parties the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrat’s. The Scottish National Party registered a gain of 2 seats, having polled 1,18,737 votes, with vote share in percentage terms being 0.4 and a positive vote share change of 0.1. There are more Women MP’s in the UK parliament, 220 this time, 12 more than the 208 Women MP’s in 2017.