“Not another one!?”
On June 8th people in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will decide on the individuals who can become Members of Parliament (MPs). Six hundred and fifty MPs are elected and the party that has a majority (326 is the magic number) forms the government. The leader of this party (the Prime Minister) then creates his or her cabinet (selection of top MPs) to lead the country. Strangely though, no one saw the election coming.
Monday 8th April, saw Prime Minister Theresa May announce a snap election. The reason for it? Well, May is worried about the division within Parliament which potentially might “risk the ability to make a success of Brexit.” She said that she was “reluctant” to call for an election but is already going into this campaign with her own sense of confidence. May is campaigning in areas and constituencies that are controlled by Labour, particularly in the North of England and rural Wales.
Many have begun to question May over her announcement of this election. Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011, the next election was not supposed to be until 2020. Add to the fact that May has had a U-Turn on calling a snap election, then you really have to question this sudden change of heart. But really, it is quite obvious why May is holding this. She feels that this is the best time to have one, especially for the Conservative party. Firstly, May feels she needs a mandate to leave the EU on her party’s terms, so an election has the full support from both her party and the public. Secondly, it is the best time possible to swipe seats currently held under Labour. If she has a larger majority, than it will be easier for her and her party to pass legislation. Since the main topic of this election is Brexit, May will need strongest amount of support possible, and with her current majority of just six, she may feel that this is not enough. Additionally, the person who called the Referendum on EU membership is the now retired David Cameron, not May. She needs to start from scratch, that this election she hopes will swing in her advantage.
Labour on the other hand have already been predicted by many analysts and pundits lose in June, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. A recent YouGov Poll had Labour meandering towards their worst election result since 1983, which could give the Tories a massive 200 seat advantage over them. Many people suggest that Jeremy Corbyn is simply unelectable and that Labour is crumbling under his leadership. Whilst it could be argued that it is the case, Corbyn has been elected as the Labour party leader twice. Labour are still the second largest party, so the competition will be heated between red and blue. If they are going to win, they need a plan. A platform the party can agree on, a positive and active campaign and a real desire for Europe (which they seemed to lack in the 2016 Referendum). If you want to know about the relationship between Corbyn and Labour, read Will Marshal’s article.
But what about the other parties? For the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon, this really has to be the election where they have to paint Scotland yellow, if they really want to push for this second independence referendum. Could the Greens, Liberal Democrats or Plaid Cymru make any further ground over the opposition parties? Then we come to UKIP, who, if it was not for them, we probably would not have Brexit. After seeing party leader Paul Nuttall fail to win his seat in Stoke, will we see a similar pattern in this year's election? Perhaps Nigel Farage is running for South Thanet constituency for his eight bid at becoming an MP.
This is going to be, in my opinion, the most important election in years. Not only is it all about how our schools are funded, how our hospitals run and how our economy will look, it is also to decide the make-up of British politics for generations to come.
The Prime Minister has already started triggering Article 50, but now it all comes down to how are we going to leave. What sort of deal will we have? How will our borders work? Will we be part of the Single market? All of that is up to those over the age of 18. It will be interesting to see how the political parties campaign and what will be inside their manifestos. So pick your sides, grab your rosettes and let battle commence: we have an general election on our hands!
Views expressed are those of the writer and do not represent the views of the staff or governors at The Knights Templar School.