Conservatives look to be winners in surprise UK election

[webfact]

Conservatives look to be winners in surprise UK election
By JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA

LONDON (AP) — The Conservative Party surged to a surprisingly commanding lead in Britain's parliamentary election, with returns Friday backing an exit poll's prediction that Prime Minister David Cameron would remain in 10 Downing Street. The opposition Labour Party took a beating, mostly from energized Scottish nationalists who pulled off a landslide in Scotland.

With Cameron's Conservatives on the cusp of winning a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, the election result looked to be far better for him than opinion pollsters, or even his own party, had foreseen. The prime minister was beaming early Friday as he was announced the winner of his Witney constituency in southern England.

"This is clearly a very strong night for the Conservative Party," he said, stopping just short of declaring overall victory.

"I want my party, and I hope a government that I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost — the mantle of one nation, one United Kingdom," Cameron said, vowing to counter the rise of Scottish nationalism with more powers for Scotland and Wales.

The opposition Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband, was routed in Scotland by the Scottish National Party, which took almost all of the 59 seats in Scotland.

"What we're seeing tonight is Scotland voting to put its trust in the SNP to make Scotland's voice heard, a clear voice for an end to austerity, better public services and more progressive politics at Westminster," party leader Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC.

"The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country," said former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who was elected in the seat of Gordon.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy insisted he would not resign despite losing his seat but Miliband's grip on the overall leadership seemed more tenuous, as the party failed to make predicted gains against the Conservatives across the rest of Britain.

"This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party," said Miliband.

"We haven't made the gains that we'd wanted in England and Wales and in Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelm our party."

Miliband, who faced calls from within Labour to step down, said that whoever is prime minister would face the challenge of uniting the country after a divisive campaign.

Cameron's coalition partner, the Liberal Democrat party, faced electoral disaster, losing most of its seats as punishment for supporting a Conservative-led agenda since 2010.

"It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats," said leader Nick Clegg, who did hold on to his own seat. He said he would discuss his future with colleagues later Friday.

Almost 50 million people were registered to vote in Thursday's election, one of the most unpredictable in decades. Opinion polls during the monthlong campaign had suggested the result was too close to call.

But an exit poll released as polls closed projected that the Conservatives would be well ahead, with around 316 seats — they would need 326 for a majority — and Labour on 239, while the Liberal Democrats would lose most of their seats.

The chief exit pollster, John Curtice of Strathclyde University, said it looked as if Conservative and Labour gains had canceled each other out across England and Wales, and that Labour had lost much of its support in Scotland to the SNP.

The survey was conducted by pollsters GfK and Ipsos MORI for Britain's broadcasters.

As results rolled in overnight, the Conservative Party appeared to be in a commanding position to form the next government, either alone or by seeking partners from smaller parties. One result could be re-run of the Conservative-led coalition with the Liberal Democrats that has governed since 2010.

With 508 of 650 seats reporting, the Conservatives had 222 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 55 and the Liberal Democrats six.

Votes in each constituency were counted by hand and the results followed a familiar ritual. Candidates — each wearing a bright rosette in the color of their party — line up onstage like boxers as a returning officer reads out the results.

But if the form was familiar, the results were often shocking.

Among the early Scottish National Party winners was 20-year-old student Mhairi Black, who defeated Douglas Alexander, Labour's 47-year-old foreign policy spokesman and one of its most senior figures. Black is the youngest U.K. lawmaker since 13-year-old Christopher Monck entered Parliament in 1667.

The UK Independence Party ran third in opinion polls, but by early Friday had won only one seat because its support isn't concentrated in specific areas. Leader Nigel Farage said he would resign if he does not win the seat of Thanet South — an outcome that looked a distinct possibility.

Britain's economy — recovering after years of turmoil that followed the 2008 financial crisis — was at the core of many voters' concerns. The results suggest that many heeded Cameron's entreaties to back the Conservatives as the party of financial stability. Public questions at television debates made plain that many voters distrusted politicians' promises to safeguard the economy, protect the National Health Service from severe cutbacks and control the number of immigrants from eastern Europe.

In Whitechapel, one of London's poorest communities, voters struggling in the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s wanted a change in leadership.

"The first priority is the economy, the second one is creating more jobs, and the third is living expenses — they're going higher and higher," said Shariq ul-Islam, a 24-year-old student.

But just a few minutes away in the City of London, the traditional financial district where many bankers earn enormous salaries, Christopher Gardner, a 34-year-old finance industry official, put his trust in the Conservatives.

"There are some issues that have been caused by austerity previously," he said. "They're the only people that I'm confident will resolve that."
___

Sylvia Hui, Paul Kelbie, Gregory Katz and Martin Benedyk contributed to this story.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-08

[JetsetBkk]

Ed Balls is out.

[JAG]

Ed Balls is out.

Yes Yes, the devious lying bullyboy, who shafted the UKs economy, and has spent the last 5 years denying that he had anything to do with it, has gone!

Edited May 8, 2015 by JAG

[fredob43]

Ed Balls is out.

That'll be the last flat lining comment we will hear from him for some time.

There is a Buddha.

[Jingthing]

Congratulations Tories.

Interesting and surprising election.

[Basil B]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

[RuamRudy]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

[JetsetBkk]

Congratulations Tories.

Interesting and surprising election.

Very surprising indeed. The Tories have gone from a coalition government to an overall majority - predicted by Sky News - of 6.

Thank you Ed Milliband.

[dogleg]

The BBC forecast, with well over half of the results now in, is Conservative 329, Labour 233, the Lib Dems eight, the SNP 56, Plaid Cymru three, UKIP two, the Greens one and others 19.

-BBC News

[Basil B]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

All...

They are a single issue party, they want another referendum or independence, they have no interest in the UK as a single entity.

[Humberstone]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

You can thank the collapse in the Lib-Dem vote for getting Cameron back in, they paid the price for selling out with an alliance with the Tories and alienating their voters. The demise of Labour in Scotland was widely predicted.

[RuamRudy]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

All...

They are a single issue party, they want another referendum or independence, they have no interest in the UK as a single entity.

All or 'so many'? You are contradicting yourself, man! Is this because the reality is you get your political ken from the Daily Mail?

[Matej]

Few months ago we were watching so called Scottish independence referendum ...

now there's Cameron's and SNP's victory.

I'm afraid that UK is falling apart ...

The only good news, so far, is that UKIP's gained 1 seat.

Pretty hard for voters to choose among current political parties in the UK.

Good luck.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Matej

[lucky11]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

All...

They are a single issue party, they want another referendum or independence, they have no interest in the UK as a single entity.

This election is flawed democracy and unrepresentative of the peoples wishes.

Can any of you professed democracy lovers explain to me how the 'over' 4 million voters who voted for the greens and UKIP now have 2 MPs representing them when less than 1.5 million voters who voted SNP now have 56 Scottish MP's having a significant say on laws that apply to England only!!! If that is not twisted politics then what is?

In relative terms, of the number that have voted for the SNP to get 56 MPs - 2.66 x that number returns a meagre 2 MPs (1 UKIP + 1 green) - they should have had 150 MPs on that basis, not 2!! .

It looks as though the Tories will have won about 50% of the seats with the votes cast for them in the mid 40s - is someone going to tell me that, say 45% of the vote is a majority of the voters.

If that is democracy then they can stuff it. They should change the archaic voting system in the UK as it is deeply flawed (and undemocratic) as this clearly illustrates!!

Edited May 8, 2015 by lucky11

[RuamRudy]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

All...

They are a single issue party, they want another referendum or independence, they have no interest in the UK as a single entity.

This election is flawed democracy and unrepresentative of the peoples wishes.

Can any of you professed democracy lovers explain to me how the 'over' 4 million voters who voted for the greens and UKIP now have 2 MPs representing them when less than 1.5 million voters who voted SNP now have 56 Scottish MP's having a significant say on laws that apply to England only!!! If that is not twisted politics then what is?

In relative terms, of the number that have voted for the SNP to get 56 MPs - 2.66 x that number returns a meagre 2 MPs (1 UKIP + 1 green) - they should have had 150 MPs on that basis, not 2!! .

It looks as though the Tories will have won about 50% of the seats with the votes cast for them in the mid 40s - is someone going to tell me that, say 45% of the vote is a majority of the voters.

If that is democracy then they can stuff it. They should change the archaic voting system in the UK as it is deeply flawed (and undemocratic) as this clearly illustrates!!

To be fair to the SNP, they supported PR - it is the big two who campaigned to keep the skewed FPTP system.

Also, the SNP has a policy of not voting on English-only matters; the problem is that there are very few matters that involve only England. Any English issue which has a budgetary impact affects Scotland also, by way of the Barnett formula. Again, the SNP seeks full fiscal autonomy, thus removing the Barnett formula and providing you with even greater assurance that the SNP is not out to wreak havoc down south.

[jpinx]

On thing for sure the I am glade that labour will not have enough seats to form a coalition with the SNP.

with so many loony SNP MP's I do feel it is time England has it's own devolved government to equal that of the Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland.

Whom amongst the SNP MPs do you consider to be loonies? With 49 of them new to the house, I am not too sure which of them are mad, which are crazy, which are stupid etc. Maybe you can enlighten us all with your expert, critical analysis of these new members?

All...

They are a single issue party, they want another referendum or independence, they have no interest in the UK as a single entity.

This election is flawed democracy and unrepresentative of the peoples wishes.

Can any of you professed democracy lovers explain to me how the 'over' 4 million voters who voted for the greens and UKIP now have 2 MPs representing them when less than 1.5 million voters who voted SNP now have 56 Scottish MP's having a significant say on laws that apply to England only!!! If that is not twisted politics then what is?

In relative terms, of the number that have voted for the SNP to get 56 MPs - 2.66 x that number returns a meagre 2 MPs (1 UKIP + 1 green) - they should have had 150 MPs on that basis, not 2!! .

It looks as though the Tories will have won about 50% of the seats with the votes cast for them in the mid 40s - is someone going to tell me that, say 45% of the vote is a majority of the voters.

If that is democracy then they can stuff it. They should change the archaic voting system in the UK as it is deeply flawed (and undemocratic) as this clearly illustrates!!

To be honest - UK's voting system of "first past the post", combined with dubious redrawings of constituency boundaries, makes it little better than those "democracies" who have single party elections. Thailand is struggling to find the nirvana of the "perfect" democracy and have (I believe) started to model themselves on the German system. Wasn't it the LibDems who were promoting Proportional Representation a while ago, but the public seemed to reject that. Confrontational politics appears to be the norm, so progress towards a civilised democracy is inevitably slow. Looking at the current results in UK in terms of population - turnout - seats won, it appears more than a little skewed.

[lucky11]

Fair enough, but the SNP COULD (in theory) have a big say in matters that concern English law - just the same as Prayut is accused of being a dictator and COULD use article 44 in a dubious fashion - but never will.

How do you defend the votes situation that equates to the Greens/UKIP winning 1.33% of the number of votes that the SNP garnered through having obtained the equivalent number of votes!! If you can explain the fairness in that then I will pin a medal on your chest!!

[JetsetBkk]

5 more seats to go.

.

[gandalf12]

THe same morons are getting back in and now we will hear the moans from the British people. If the people were not stupid idiots like we have in the UK government would not be eligible to run for office

[RuamRudy]

Fair enough, but the SNP COULD (in theory) have a big say in matters that concern English law - just the same as Prayut is accused of being a dictator and COULD use article 44 in a dubious fashion - but never will.

How do you defend the votes situation that equates to the Greens/UKIP winning 1.33% of the number of votes that the SNP garnered through having obtained the equivalent number of votes!! If you can explain the fairness in that then I will pin a medal on your chest!!

I am not sure that it is defensible. I am also not sure why anyone would not choose PR over FPTP, but as was pointed out, a largely ignorant or apathetic voting public rejected it. But don't blame the SNP - they wanted to change the system; the real culprit is visiting the queen today.

[lucky11]

Agree with everything in your post - I don't think that the present Tory/Lib Dem government of the day informed the public very well on the question of alternative parliamentary systems. I think that the Lib Dems clearly wanted to do as it was one of their main aims, but were discouraged in pushing too hard towards changing to a much fairer PR system by their coalition partners, which clearly seems to have hurt the minority parties most as it has as good as rendered them insignificant now (especially regarding the LD's, ironically enough).

[SheungWan]

Few months ago we were watching so called Scottish independence referendum ...

now there's Cameron's and SNP's victory.

I'm afraid that UK is falling apart ...

The only good news, so far, is that UKIP's gained 1 seat.

Pretty hard for voters to choose among current political parties in the UK.

Good luck.

Farage has just thrown in the towel and resigned as leader of the Kippers.

[RickBradford]

The vile and creepy Ed Davey has been slung out, as well.

But by what measure is it fair that UKIP, with 12.6% of the overall vote, ends up with 1 seat, while the SNP, with 4.8% of the vote, has 56 seats?

[JetsetBkk]

Farage has just thrown in the towel and resigned as leader of the Kippers.

And bye-bye Clegg.

Don't let the door hit you on your backside on the way out.

[JetsetBkk]

The vile and creepy Ed Davey has been slung out, as well.

But by what measure is it fair that UKIP, with 12.6% of the overall vote, ends up with 1 seat, while the SNP, with 4.8% of the vote, has 56 seats?

It's called the "First Past The Post" system, not "Proportional Representation".

But I think you knew that already.

[Matej]

Agree with everything in your post - I don't think that the present Tory/Lib Dem government of the day informed the public very well on the question of alternative parliamentary systems. I think that the Lib Dems clearly wanted to do as it was one of their main aims, but were discouraged in pushing too hard towards changing to a much fairer PR system by their coalition partners, which clearly seems to have hurt the minority parties most as it has as good as rendered them insignificant now (especially regarding the LD's, ironically enough).

Plurality voting system, first-past-the-post, ... you are winning, you will win a lot.

I know the UK is a very old democracy, but even though, I don't think this system is appropriate for UK, because of endless ethnical/national issues, especially in this hard times.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Matej

[Chicog]

The vile and creepy Ed Davey has been slung out, as well.

But by what measure is it fair that UKIP, with 12.6% of the overall vote, ends up with 1 seat, while the SNP, with 4.8% of the vote, has 56 seats?

It's called the "First Past The Post" system, not "Proportional Representation".

But I think you knew that already.

But he didn't ask how it works, he asked how it is fair.

I'd prefer PR myself. Removes the opportunity for gerrymandering.

[RickBradford]

I think Single Transferable Vote would be a good way to go -- it keeps the regional aspect of voting which full PR eliminates while giving a voice to smaller parties.

The absolute horror in Australian politics that was displayed when the Motoring Enthusiasts Party grabbed a Senate seat in 2013 was hilarious.

But changes to the UK electoral system were put to a referendum a few years ago, and were rejected.

[Jay Sata]

Milliband,Harman and Balls would have wrecked the UK economy just like they did with Blair and Brown.

Thankfully their future in government is consigned to to the political dustbin.

[nakhonandy]

A lot of people moaning that FPTP is not fair.

Well tough.

The people had the choice to go for PR a few years ago but chose to stick with the existing system.

Probably the people moaning support the parties that didn't get seats! Well you had your chance and didn't take it.