13 December 2019

The Independent: Election result: 52% of votes go to pro-referendum parties despite decisive victory for the Tories

Analysis of election vote share reveals nearly 52% supported parties in favour of a Final Say vote such as Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the SNP, compared with 47% who supported Brexit-backing parties, such as the Tories and the DUP.

The split in vote share echoes the ratio of the 2016 Brexit referendum, where the Leave campaign scored a victory by 52 per cent to 48 per cent.

It is also likely to reignite the debate about the UK’s electoral system, known as first-past-the-post, which means votes are wasted if they do not go to the winning candidate.

After a dramatic night, Mr Johnson hailed the result as an “overwhelming mandate” to deliver Brexit and promised the country there would be closure after the divisive discourse of the past three years.

But Professor Sir John Curtice, who led the team conducting the exit poll, explained that the Brexit picture was more complex.

Writing for BBC News, he said: “The Conservatives‘ success means that Britain will now leave the EU at the end of January. However, it seems unlikely to end the debate about Britain’s relationship with the EU.

“The country’s divisions over Brexit were exposed in the very different swings across the country.

“Meanwhile, at 47 per cent, fewer than half of voters backed the Conservatives or the Brexit Party – the parties in favour of leaving the EU without another referendum.

“This is a point to which opponents of Brexit are likely to point in the weeks and months to come.”

The UK is on course to leave the EU within weeks following Mr Johnson’s victory, fought on the central premise he would “get Brexit done”. [...]

Full article on The Independent

© The Independent