Atlantic Sentinel

Tag: UK Election 2017

Parliamentary elections were held in the United Kingdom on June 8. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives lost their majority in the House of Commons, going down from 330 to 317 seats. Labour went up from 232 to 262. The Atlantic Sentinel endorsed the Liberal Democrats, who won 12 seats, and the Conservatives in Scotland, where they won 13 of the 59 seats.

  • Local Elections Test British Parties’ Prospects for June

    Theresa May Lars Løkke Rasmussen
    Prime Ministers Theresa May of the United Kingdom and Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Denmark answer questions from reporters in Copenhagen, October 10, 2016 (10 Downing Street/Tom Evans)

    Today’s local elections in the United Kingdom should be a good indicator of the national mood going into the general election in June.

    The areas holding elections on Thursday are the “shire counties” of England and all counties of Scotland and Wales.

    These areas are mostly rural or semi-rural and have a tendency to be either Conservative bastions, particularly in England, or have no single party in control. (more…)

  • Four Reasons to Doubt Conservatives Will Win In Landslide

    Theresa May
    British prime minister Theresa May is applauded walking into 10 Downing Street in London, England, July 13, 2016 (10 Downing Street/Tom Evans)

    This week marked the last prime minister’s questions before the British election in June and seems a good place to examine the reasons Theresa May might be less secure that she seems.

    While her Conservative Party is 21 points ahead of Labour in the polls — its biggest lead in almost a decade — there are four reasons to doubt it will stay there. (more…)

  • In About-Face, May Seeks Mandate for Post-Brexit Vision

    British prime minister Theresa May unexpectedly called for an early election on Tuesday, which she is almost certain to win.

    • Opinion polls have consistently put May’s Conservative Party up to 20 points ahead of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
    • Under Britain’s first-past-the-post system, the pro-European Liberal Democrats and the nationalist United Kingdom Independence Party, who share third place in the polls, stand little chance of gaining many seats.
    • The Scottish National Party sees the early election as an opportunity to assert its dominance north of the border. Majority Scottish support for the nationalists could strengthen their argument for a second independence referendum. (more…)