Clearview National June 2015 - Issue 163 | Page 90

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A surge, a sweep and a surprise:
Britain enters a new political era
Benji-Alexander Williamsm, Manager of Public & Parliamentary Affairs
(RICS), discusses the surprising election outcome on www.rics.org.
»»“Who said politics was
boring? After weeks of uneventful
campaigning the British electorate delivered
their verdict, and with it the first surprise
result since Neil Kinnock’s defeat in
1992.
“Despite consistent predictions that the
Conservatives would do well to remain the
largest party in a hung parliament, David
Cameron now returns to Parliament with a
slim but workable majority.
“Furthermore, by lunchtime on Friday
8th May he was the only remaining leader
of a major UK political party, following the
resignations of Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg
and Nigel Farage, (whose resignation was
subsequently rejected by his members), as a
response to the disappointments suffered by
their respective parties.
“Clearly, the headline result is the surprise
victory of David Cameron’s Conservative
Party, achieving a totally unforeseen net
gain against Labour in England, who

90 » JUN 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

has been reduced back to 1987 levels of
parliamentary representation.
“Britain’s long-standing third party has been
violently displaced by two new contenders for
the bronze crown of British politics. Losing
49 seats, the Liberal Democrats have been
reduced to a rump of eight MPs, the same
number as Northern Ireland’s DUP, while the
SNP has taken clean sweep of all but three of
Scotland’s 59 seats.
“But the quieter and far more significant
shift was the surge in UKIP support to 3.75m
votes. Although this produced only one MP,
it did award them third place with a vote
share greater than that of the SNP and Liberal
Democrats combined. Britain, it seems, has
two new third parties.
“Key to the future of devolution is the
regional aspect to this outcome, with
London and the urban North deepening its
commitment to a post-Blair Labour party
while the rest of England turned solidly blue
through Conservative consolidation.

“Scotland’s overwhelming flock to
the SNP demonstrates the impact of the
Independence referendum, and the concern
over the implementation of further promised
devolution measures. In contrast to the
regionalisation of other parties, it was the
sheer spread of UKIP’s appeal from the Labour
heartlands of the North to the Tory shires of
the south that marks them out as a significant
minority phenomenon that will make the
question of England’s place in any new
devolution settlement all the more critical.
“With a single party government, a slim
majority, several leadership races, a referendum
on Britain’s EU membership and a new
constitutional settlement out ahead of us,
this promises to be a parliamentary term like
none we have known for some time. Whether
it proves to be the ‘something special’ that
the Prime Minister predicted today has yet
to be seen, but one thing is for sure – we’re
unlikely to be as bored as we were during the
campaign.”