In Surprise Lurch to the Right, David Cameron Takes UK Election

Scottish Nationalist Party makes surprising gains

Region:

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha return to 10 Downing Street in London, May 8, 2015. (Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP)

Thursday’s United Kingdom elections brought a surprise lurch to the right, with the Conservative Party seizing the majority of Parliamentary seats and Prime Minister David Cameron sweeping back to power with more muscle behind him this time.

The overwhelming win was unexpected, as polls ahead of the election had shown a close race with the opposition Labour Party, and many analysts had expected a hung parliament in the immediate aftermath.

But both the centrist liberal democrats and Labour Party were clobbered in the election, prompting Labour Party leader Ed Miliband to resign from his role.

Cameron immediately signaled that he plans to oppose independence for Scotland and Wales. “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,” hesaid on Friday.

However, the Scottish Nationalist Party—anti-nuclear, anti-austerity, and pro-independence—made considerable gains, jumping from just six seats to 56.

The Guardian reports:

At the time of writing, with almost all 650 seats declared, the Conservatives had 325, Labour 229, the SNP 56 and the Liberal Democrats eight. In practice 323 Members of Parliament is the number needed to form a majority government.

“It is an extraordinary statement of intent from the people of Scotland,” said SNP leader Alex Salmond. “The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country.”


Articles by: Common Dreams

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]