Theresa May Wants a Majority of One’s Own..
Britain heads to the polls June 8th. In the words of swinging 1960s Londoner Alfie, “What’s it all about?” Fear not, Boblius is here to answer all of your questions…
Didn’t they just have an election in England? Over that Brexit thing?
Yes but that was a plebiscite about whether to leave the European Union, not who to send to Parliament. The government put this divisive policy question directly in the hands of the voters who chose to leave the E.U.
Was deciding Brexit by putting it to the voters an example of principled direct democracy or a republican government punting a decision back to the masses?
Meh, you decide.
But didn’t the Brexit vote kick that guy out of office? You know, that guy who looks like a boarding school headmaster?
Most British politicians look like boarding school headmasters but I think you’re referring to David Cameron. Second of all, he wasn’t technically voted out of office. He campaigned so vigorously to remain in the E.U. that when the country voted to leave,
he basically HAD to resign as Prime Minister.
Why did he resign if neither he nor his party actually lost Parliamentary seats in the Brexit vote?
Being on the losing side of such an important vote turned him into a political eunuch overnight. It would have been like Robin Williams continuing to take care of his kids dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire after they discovered his ruse. Time for everyone to move on. David Cameron now spends his days waiting for a knighthood.
But didn’t Britain THEN have an election to decide the lady who looks like a posh grandma should be Prime Minister?
Her name’s Theresa May and no, she’s not a grandmother although she is relatively posh. She was chosen by the Conservative Party to be the next Prime Minister, not British voters.
That sounds flagrantly undemocratic!
That wasn’t a question but I’ll respond anyway: In parliamentary democracies the party or coalition with the most seats takes power after an election and that party’s leader becomes Prime Minister. If the party leader/Prime Minister leaves office before the next election, the party chooses a new leader thus choosing a new Prime Minister without having a full blown election. It’s happened before in Britain. Most recently in 2007, 1990, and 1976.
So after becoming Prime Minister without an election, Theresa May was able to call for an election willy nilly?
Who says “willy nilly” anymore? But I digress. Until a few years ago the Prime Minister could call elections
whenever he or she wanted. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act of 2011 limited this power by requiring a 2/3 vote from Parliament to approve early elections. Parliament readily voted for May’s snap elections.
Why do they call them ‘snap’ elections?
Because England loves a good “Yo mama” joke. No really, it means the elections were called in an impromptu fashion. As in a “snap decision.”
Got it. So why would Theresa May want an early election after Britain had a general election barely 2 years ago and that huge Brexit vote in 2016? Aren’t they sick of elections there?
Yeah, probably. Britain now has elections at the same rate Disney puts out Star Wars movies. I would be worried about audience fatigue if I were them. Perhaps the most frequent attack on May so far in the election has been her reneging on calling for early elections.
So why’d she do it?!
Two words: Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn is the Labour Party’s intentionally hapless leader. He’s so far in the left wing that neither Tony Blair nor Gordon Brown let him serve in their governments during 13 years of Labour Party rule. In American terms it’s like Labour chose the ghost of George McGovern as its leader. Corbyn’s so out of touch with British voters
and he was so impotent during the Brexit vote last year that he has pulled Labour’s poll numbers into the toilet. The Conservatives are 20 points ahead in most surveys. To preserve her polling advantage, May has refused to debate Corbyn.
In short, the Conservatives are 20 points ahead of Labour in most surveys. Why pass up this opportunity?
So Theresa May called for elections since she’s likely to increase her majority? And this is all thanks to the Labour Party straying so far to the left?
Bingo.
What does the Queen do during all this?
Not a damn thing.
Who will play Theresa May in season 8 of The Crown?
Probably some chick from either Game of Thrones or Downton Abbey.
fin