General Election 2019: Results and Analysis
by Roisin Canny
On Thursday 12th December, voters went to their local polling station for the fourth general election in nine years. They would be deciding which candidate they wanted to be their local MP, and ultimately, which party would form a government.
Here are the full results of the election:
Conservatives – 365 seats
Labour – 203 seats
Scottish National Party (SNP) – 48 seats
Liberal Democrats - 11 seats
Democratic Unionist Party – 8 seats
Sinn Féin – 7 seats
Plaid Cymru – 4 seats
Social Democratic and Labour Party – 2 seats
Green -1
Alliance Party – 1
The Brexit Party and UKIP did not win any seats.
What does this election mean?
The Conservative won a majority, the largest since 1987 (when Margaret Thatcher won a third term in office). Labour had their worst result since 1935, winning only 203 seats. This is worse than Labour’s performance in 1983 when Labour’s radical manifesto (a document setting out policy pledges for what the party would do if elected to office) was nicknamed “the longest suicide note in history”.
This means the UK now has a Conservative government, led by Boris Johnson.
How did this result happen?
Reasons for the Conservative victory
BREXIT
The main reason for the Conservative victory was Brexit. Boris Johnson’s simple slogan “Get Brexit Done” appealed to a lot of voters, both those who had voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum and those who were frustrated that the UK had not seemed to have made any progress in the Brexit negotiations in over three and a half years.
Reasons for the Labour loss
BREXIT
The Labour Party did not commit fully to “Leave” or “Remain”. Instead, they promised to hold a second referendum on EU membership with a choice between their renegotiated deal (involving the UK staying in the single market and customs union) and Remain. This failure to commit to either side alienated both sides of debate, but especially Leave-voting constituencies (geographical territories that elect MPs) in the North that voted Conservative in this election instead.
CORBYN
Corbyn was portrayed as radical and extreme by the media. Many voters felt uncomfortable with the idea of Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, including lifelong Labour voters.
ANTI SEMITISM
The Labour Party has been plagued by accusations of anti-Semitism in recent years which have considerably damaged the party’s image. MPs such as Luciana Berger have left the party due to the row over anti-Semitism. During the election campaign, the Chief Rabbi was very critical of Corbyn’s efforts to root out anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, urging voters to “vote with their conscience”.
POLICIES
Labour’s policies in their manifesto were very extreme. For example, they pledged to nationalise water, rail, mail, energy and broadband. Some people worried about the economic consequences of this; others felt that these simply weren’t realistic.
What happens next?
Now that Boris Johnson has a strong Conservative majority (80), he will be able to pass the European Withdrawal Agreement Bill by the deadline of 31st January 2020, meaning the UK will officially leave the EU. This means that talks can then move onto a future trade deal with the European Union. The Conservatives are promising to have delivered by the end of December 2020, although some people doubt that this is possible as most trade deals take much longer than this. The Conservatives argue that this can be done quickly as the UK and EU already have the same tariffs and regulations and it is essentially a matter of how different these standards will become.
Corbyn has announced that he is going to resign, which will lead to a Labour leadership contest. The future of the Labour Party is uncertain – is it going to move back to the political centre and choose a moderate leader such as Jess Phillips or Sir Keir Starmer, or is it going to select another far-left leader such as Rebecca Long-Bailey?
The possibility of a female leader is also being talked about as Labour has never had a female leader, as well as the possibility of a northerner being chosen, rather than another London MP like Jeremy Corbyn (who represents Islington North).
After Jeremy Corbyn has resigned as leader, he will still sit as an MP in the House of Commons.
Here are the full results of the election:
Conservatives – 365 seats
Labour – 203 seats
Scottish National Party (SNP) – 48 seats
Liberal Democrats - 11 seats
Democratic Unionist Party – 8 seats
Sinn Féin – 7 seats
Plaid Cymru – 4 seats
Social Democratic and Labour Party – 2 seats
Green -1
Alliance Party – 1
The Brexit Party and UKIP did not win any seats.
What does this election mean?
The Conservative won a majority, the largest since 1987 (when Margaret Thatcher won a third term in office). Labour had their worst result since 1935, winning only 203 seats. This is worse than Labour’s performance in 1983 when Labour’s radical manifesto (a document setting out policy pledges for what the party would do if elected to office) was nicknamed “the longest suicide note in history”.
This means the UK now has a Conservative government, led by Boris Johnson.
How did this result happen?
Reasons for the Conservative victory
BREXIT
The main reason for the Conservative victory was Brexit. Boris Johnson’s simple slogan “Get Brexit Done” appealed to a lot of voters, both those who had voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum and those who were frustrated that the UK had not seemed to have made any progress in the Brexit negotiations in over three and a half years.
Reasons for the Labour loss
BREXIT
The Labour Party did not commit fully to “Leave” or “Remain”. Instead, they promised to hold a second referendum on EU membership with a choice between their renegotiated deal (involving the UK staying in the single market and customs union) and Remain. This failure to commit to either side alienated both sides of debate, but especially Leave-voting constituencies (geographical territories that elect MPs) in the North that voted Conservative in this election instead.
CORBYN
Corbyn was portrayed as radical and extreme by the media. Many voters felt uncomfortable with the idea of Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, including lifelong Labour voters.
ANTI SEMITISM
The Labour Party has been plagued by accusations of anti-Semitism in recent years which have considerably damaged the party’s image. MPs such as Luciana Berger have left the party due to the row over anti-Semitism. During the election campaign, the Chief Rabbi was very critical of Corbyn’s efforts to root out anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, urging voters to “vote with their conscience”.
POLICIES
Labour’s policies in their manifesto were very extreme. For example, they pledged to nationalise water, rail, mail, energy and broadband. Some people worried about the economic consequences of this; others felt that these simply weren’t realistic.
What happens next?
Now that Boris Johnson has a strong Conservative majority (80), he will be able to pass the European Withdrawal Agreement Bill by the deadline of 31st January 2020, meaning the UK will officially leave the EU. This means that talks can then move onto a future trade deal with the European Union. The Conservatives are promising to have delivered by the end of December 2020, although some people doubt that this is possible as most trade deals take much longer than this. The Conservatives argue that this can be done quickly as the UK and EU already have the same tariffs and regulations and it is essentially a matter of how different these standards will become.
Corbyn has announced that he is going to resign, which will lead to a Labour leadership contest. The future of the Labour Party is uncertain – is it going to move back to the political centre and choose a moderate leader such as Jess Phillips or Sir Keir Starmer, or is it going to select another far-left leader such as Rebecca Long-Bailey?
The possibility of a female leader is also being talked about as Labour has never had a female leader, as well as the possibility of a northerner being chosen, rather than another London MP like Jeremy Corbyn (who represents Islington North).
After Jeremy Corbyn has resigned as leader, he will still sit as an MP in the House of Commons.