Theresa Mays’s announcement that she will seek a snap general election on 8 June, shows a prime minister that is more interested in capitalising on Labour disarray than making a more stable and prosperous Britain for all.
Since becoming prime minister in the wake of the Brexit vote and David Cameron’s resignation, Theresa May has repeatedly said that a snap election would be the wrong decision for the country that needs. However, with Labour up to 20 points behind in the polls, she has now decided that it is in her political interest – and that is more important than the stability of the country.
In her speech in front of 10 Downing Street, she blamed her decision on opposition parties planning to thwart her push towards a hard Brexit and claimed division in Westminster did not represent unity found elsewhere in the country. In reality, the division in Westminster accurately represents the deep divisions in the British population at large after the Tory party decided to ignore the pleas of 48 percent of voters and march out of the EU, the single market, and the customs union.
Her decision to call a general election had little to do with the actions of other parties over Brexit, but everything to do with her belief that an election at this juncture will give her the opportunity to route the Labour party. If the current opinion polls prove to be true, she will win a Tory landslide on the scale of that won by Margaret Thatcher in the early 1983.
She has determined that losing seats to the Liberal Democrats, who will campaign on the promise on a second Brexit referendum, in cities and large towns across the country will be worth it to get a larger Tory majority and shift the centre of British politics to the right.
May has made it very clear that she sees no room for debate on the nature of Brexit, ignoring the will of the people, which can be best described as divided and confused. She has no interest in the problems that may stem from reopening the deep divisions sewn in the Brexit campaign, that saw London and many other large metropolitan areas vote heavily to remain in direct contrast to rural areas and smaller towns. She does not care that she will reopen the stark divisions between young people, who voted overwhelmingly to remain, and the old who voted even similarly heavily to leave.
The reasons that people voted for Brexit are varied, but part of the vote was an expression of anger at the political class that has trampled on ordinary people’s dreams and communities for decades without redress. The Conservative party showed its contempt for the British people by committing widespread election fraud by overspending at the 2015 general election, but rather than address this problem within her own party, May has apparently decided to employ the architect behind that narrow and disputed election victory, Lynton Crosby, to run her re-election campaign.
Britain is a country divided, and May’s decision to put personal and party power before national stability and any possibility of national unity, shows a politician that is both selfish and short-sighted.
