General election 2019: Labour facing long haul, warns McDonnell - BBC News

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Labour faces a "long haul" as it attempts to gain power following its fourth election defeat in a row, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned.

He rejected claims that leader Jeremy Corbyn had been responsible for the result, instead blaming "the overwhelming issue" of Brexit.

But some current and ex-MPs have said Mr Corbyn's unpopularity contributed to Labour losing dozens of seats.

Boris Johnson's Conservatives won on Thursday with a Commons majority of 80.

The outcome, far more positive for the Tories than most opinion polls had predicted, has prompted much soul-searching within Labour, which last won a general election under Tony Blair in 2005.

Mr Corbyn has announced he will stand down in the near future and Mr McDonnell, one of his closest allies, said he had been "the right leader" for the party.

But Labour's Helen Goodman, who lost her Redcar seat to the Conservatives on Thursday, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "the biggest factor was obviously the unpopularity of Jeremy Corbyn as the leader".

And Dame Margaret Hodge, Labour MP for Barking, east London, said she felt "anger because this is an election we should have won".

She added that, under Mr Corbyn's leadership - during which Labour has faced criticism for its handling of anti-Semitism allegations among its membership - voters had come to see it "as a nasty party".

Meanwhile, Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North, said the party's "far-left" manifesto had alienated much of the electorate.

Mr McDonnell disagreed with personal criticism of his leader, saying: "The overwhelming issue was Brexit and the Labour Party was caught on the horns of a dilemma.

"We had a party which was largely supportive of Remain, but many of us represented Leave constituencies."

In the election, Labour's number of Commons seats fell to 203, its lowest since 1935.

Mr Corbyn, leader since 2015, ran for prime minister on a promise to hold a second referendum on Brexit, saying that during any campaign he would remain neutral - in contrast to Mr Johnson's promise to take the UK out of the EU by 31 January.

Mr McDonnell said: "If we went one way, to Leave, we would have alienated a lot of our Remain support. If we went for Remain, we'd alienate a lot of our Leave support.

"We tried to bring the country together. It failed. We have to accept that, take it on the chin. We have to own that and then move on."

Mr McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington in west London, said Labour now needed to have "a constructive debate" about its future, discussing "what went right and what went wrong" during the election campaign.

He argued that Mr Corbyn, who has received criticism from some Labour figures for not standing down immediately, was right to stay on "for a couple of months".

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It was necessary because of the "expertise" required to deal with issues such as Brexit and the forthcoming Budget, he said.

Discussing Mr Johnson's government, Mr McDonnell said: "My fear is that we're in for a long haul now, possibly five years.

"The two issues that we face are still there - huge, grotesque levels of inequality and, the issue that never really emerged in the campaign, which was climate change, this existential threat that must be our priority.

"Brexit, well, we'll see what the government brings back in terms of its negotiations. The people have decided we need to implement that, but we've got to get the best deal to protect jobs and the economy."

He added: "My fear is five years of a fossil fuel-backed government under Boris Johnson means we'll miss this five-years opportunity of saving our planet."

At the 2017 general election, Mr Corbyn's first as Labour leader, the party won 40% of votes and gained 30 MPs, denying Theresa May's Conservatives a majority.

But on Thursday it received 32% of the vote and lost 59 seats, including several of its traditional strongholds in the north of England.

Mr Corbyn said that, during the election campaign, he had done "everything I could" and that he had "pride" in the party's manifesto.

The Labour leader's sons, Tommy, Seb and Benjamin, tweeted a tribute to their father, calling him an "honest, humble and good-natured" figure in the "poisonous world" of politics.

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2019-12-14 13:10:54Z
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Boris Johnson calls for unity after landside victory - CBS This Morning

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2019-12-14 12:46:11Z
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North Korea conducts another test at long-range rocket site - Fox News

North Korea said Saturday that it successfully performed another “crucial test” at its long-range rocket launch site that will further strengthen its nuclear deterrent.

The test possibly involved technologies to improve intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the continental United States.

The announcement comes as North Korea continues to pressure the Trump administration for major concessions as it approaches an end-of-year deadline set by leader Kim Jong Un to salvage faltering nuclear negotiations.

North Korea’s Academy of Defense Science did not specify what was tested on Friday. Just days earlier, the North said it conducted a “very important test” at the site on the country’s northwestern coast, prompting speculation that it involved a new engine for either an ICBM or a space launch vehicle.

KELLY CRAFT AT UN: NORTH KOREA MISSILE LAUNCHES 'RISK CLOSING THE DOOR' ON DIPLOMATIC PROGRESS

The announcement suggests that the country is preparing to do something to provoke the United States if Washington doesn’t back down and make concessions to ease sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang in deadlocked nuclear negotiations.

An unnamed spokesman for the academy said scientists received warm congratulations from members from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee who attended the test that lasted from 10:41 to 10:48 p.m. Friday at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, where the North has conducted satellite launches and liquid-fuel missile engine tests in recent years.

In this March 6, 2019, file photo, people watch a TV screen showing an image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea on Saturday, Dec. 14, says it successfully performed another "crucial test" as its long-range rocket launch site that would further strengthen its "reliable strategic nuclear deterrent."The signs read: " North's Tongchang-ri launch site."  (AP)

The spokesman said the successful outcome of the latest test, in addition to the one on Dec. 7, “will be applied to further bolster up the reliable strategic nuclear deterrent of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,” referring to North Korea’s formal name.

Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military officer and currently an analyst from Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North mentioning its nuclear deterrent makes it clear it tested a new engine for an ICBM, not a satellite-launch vehicle. Kim said it was notable that North Korea announced the specific length of the test, which he said possibly signals a larger liquid-fuel ICBM engine.

North Korea’s current ICBMs, including the Hwasong-15, are built with first stages that are powered by a pair of engines that experts say are modeled after Russian designs. When the North first tested the engine in 2016, it said the test lasted for 200 seconds and demonstrated a thrust of 80 tons-force.

TRUMP A 'HEEDLESS AND ERRATIC OLD MAN', NORTH KOREA SAYS

The North Korean statement came a day before Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, was to arrive in South Korea for discussions with South Korean officials over the nuclear diplomacy. It was unclear whether Biegun would attempt contact with North Korean officials at the inter-Korean border, which has often been used as a diplomatic venue, or whether such an effort would be successful.

During a provocative run of weapons tests in 2017, Kim Jong Un conducted three flight tests of ICBMs that demonstrated potential range to reach deep into the U.S. mainland, raising tensions and triggering verbal warfare with President Donald Trump as they exchanged crude insults and threats of nuclear annihilation. Experts say that the North still needs to improve the missiles, such as ensuring that their warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry, for them to be considered a viable threat.

Protesters wear masks of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, during a rally to denounce policies of Moon on North Korea near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. (AP)

Relations between Kim and Trump became cozier in 2018 after Kim initiated diplomacy that led to their first summit in June that year in Singapore, where they issued a vague statement on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, without describing when or how it would occur.

But negotiations faltered after the United States rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of the North’s nuclear capabilities at Kim’s second summit with Trump in Vietnam in February.

Trump and Kim met for a third time in June at the border between North and South Korea and agreed to resume talks. But an October working-level meeting in Sweden broke down over what the North Koreans described as the Americans’ “old stance and attitude.”

NORTH KOREA CONDUCTED 'VERY IMPORTANT TEST' AT SATELLITE LAUNCH FACILITY: STATE MEDIA

Kim, who unilaterally suspended nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests last year during talks with Washington and Seoul, has said North Korea could seek a “new path” if the United States persists with sanctions and pressure against the North.

North Korea has also conducted 13 rounds of ballistic missile and rocket artillery tests since May, and has hinted at lifting its moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests if the Trump administration fails to make substantial concessions before the new year.

Some experts doubt that Kim would revive the tensions of 2017 by restarting nuclear and ICBM tests, which would cross a metaphorical “red line” and risk shattering his hard-won diplomacy with Washington. They say Kim is likely to pressure Trump with military activities that pose less of a direct threat to the U.S. and by bolstering a united front with Beijing and Moscow. Both are the North's allies and have called for the U.N. Security Council to consider easing sanctions on Pyongyang to help nuclear negotiations move forward.

Saturday's news of the test came after U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft criticized the North’s ballistic testing activity during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, saying that the tests were “deeply counterproductive” and risk closing the door on prospects for negotiating peace.

She also cited North Korean hints of “a resumption of serious provocations,” which she said would mean they could launch space vehicles using long-range ballistic missile technology or test ICBMs, “which are designed to attack the continental United States with nuclear weapons.”

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While Craft said that the Trump administration is “prepared to be flexible” and take concrete, parallel steps toward an agreement on resuming talks, North Korea described her comments as a “hostile provocation” and warned that Washington may have squandered its chance at salvaging the fragile nuclear diplomacy.

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2019-12-14 11:46:28Z
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U.K. election: How Conservatives won Labour's 'red wall' heartlands - NBC News

BOLSOVER, England — Standing outside his local pub in this seemingly forgotten English town, John Puntis is discussing his family history. It's a story that goes some way to explain the earthquake that just reshaped the political landscape across the United Kingdom.

On Friday, the country awoke to Prime Minister Boris Johnson winning a resounding victory in the nationwide general election. His Conservative Party flipped dozens of seats that for decades had been considered untouchable bastions of the left-wing Labour Party.

That shift appears partly down to people like Puntis. Like his father and grandfather before him, he was once a diehard Labour-voting miner before the local coal pits closed in the 1980s.

John Puntis, a lifelong Labour voter, explains why he switched to the Conservatives. Alex Smith / NBC News

This week he broke with family tradition and for the first time voted against Labour, a party once synonymous with working-class community spirit.

Switches like this helped his hometown of Bolsover stun the nation and elect its first Conservative Party lawmaker since the constituency was created in 1950. This trend repeated as the Conservatives proceeded to smash through Labour's "red wall" of stronghold working-class seats that once stretched from coast to coast.

"It's groundbreaking," Puntis, 61, said cheerfully, dressed in a red jacket on this chilly, grey morning around three hours' drive north of London. Speaking with a matter-of-fact but friendly manner about the election the night before, he explained, "I've always voted Labour before, but I’m pleased we have a Conservative member of Parliament because now we can get on with Brexit."

Almost all of these conquered Labour strongholds voted to leave the European Union in 2016. For many, that referendum was a proxy for other simmering grievances relating to immigration and the idea Europe had too much control over their lives.

In Bolsover, one of the least well-educated, least ethnically diverse constituencies in the country, some people say they feel forgotten by politicians in London. They are confused, frustrated and angry, some say, at why, after three years of debate and delay, Brexit still hasn't been delivered.

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To them, the simple Conservative campaign promise to "get Brexit done" appealed.

"I think most people here voted for Brexit rather than for the local candidate," said Chris Christopher, 34, who runs a fruit and vegetable shop on the town's main street. "It's still going to be a massive shock around here because we've been Labour for so long."

Chris Christopher.Alex Smith / NBC News

Many people in this deprived area appeared to have few qualms about voting for a Conservative Party responsible for a decade of punishing austerity cuts, which slashed budgets for police, housing, welfare and other services.

These policies have been "entrenching high levels of poverty and inflicting unnecessary misery in" the world's sixth richest country, according to the United Nations.

Johnson, a privately educated Oxford University graduate of immense privilege, has promised to inject cash and resources into these ailing systems — but several campaign promises have already been exposed as somewhat tenuous.

It was a dirty campaign blighted by tricks and untruths by all major parties but most notably the Conservatives. It appears to have paid off.

A few miles up the road, the constituency of Don Valley elected a Conservative for the first time since 1922. Great Grimsby turned blue after voting Labour since 1945. And even former Prime Minister Tony Blair's old seat of Sedgefield was swallowed up by the Conservative advance.

In Bolsover, the outgoing Labour lawmaker, Dennis Skinner, 87, has been in office since 1970.

Dennis Skinner, Labour party MP listens to speeches on the third day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool, north west England.Oli Scarff / AFP via Getty Images file

His local and national notoriety can be measured in him having his own nickname, "the Beast of Bolsover." He represents the old Labour of industrialism and trade unions, rather than the modern party that's seen as speaking for urban college graduates with liberal social attitudes.

Skinner's supporters will point to his age and recent hip replacement surgery that meant he had a reduced presence on the campaign trail. He was defeated by Conservative Mark Fletcher.

Flipping these Labour strongholds was key to Johnson securing his party's biggest win since 1987. For Labour, the night was a catastrophe. Its veteran socialist leader, Jeremy Corbyn, led the party to its worst performance at a nationwide general election since the 1930s.

"I voted for Labour but I don't trust Jeremy Corbyn," said Karen Hepworth, 62, who runs a market stall selling knitwear in Bolsover's square. Labour's campaign policy was to renegotiate a new Brexit deal with the E.U. and put it back to the people for another vote.

"Why do we need another referendum?" Hepworth asked in exasperation, echoing a seemingly widespread dislike of the Labour leader in Bolsover that tracks with national polls.

Although the Conservative victory was unambiguous, there is uncertainty ahead for the U.K.

In Brexit, Johnson's next hurdle is negotiating new trade deals with the E.U., Washington and elsewhere. He has little time to strike these deals, opening the possibility that he may be forced into concessions that could anger the hard-line Brexiteer wing of his party.

Meanwhile, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, there were gains Friday for nationalist lawmakers who want to separate from the U.K. and, in Northern Ireland's case, reunite with the Irish Republic to the south.

In this sense, the vote will do little to dampen fears, or hope, depending on your perspective, that the U.K. might be in danger of breaking apart.

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2019-12-14 10:11:00Z
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North Korea says it conducted another 'crucial test' at missile site - CNN

It was not immediately clear what was tested, but the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the test would bolster North Korea's "reliable strategic nuclear deterrent."

The launch occurred at around 10:45 p.m. local time (8:45 a.m. ET) Friday, according to KCNA.

In a statement provided to CNN, South Korea's Ministry of Defense said it was working with United States intelligence agencies to monitor activity in areas of interest, but was unable to "confirm specifics."

News of the test follows a similar launch on December 7 that was labeled by North Korea as "very important."

"The research successes being registered by us in defense science one after another recently will be applied to further bolstering up the reliable strategic nuclear deterrent of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," KCNA said in a report Saturday.

Earlier this month, North Korea warned it would send the US a "Christmas gift," the contents of which would depend on the outcome of ongoing talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

In 2017, North Korea referred to its first test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as a "gift" for the US on the Fourth of July holiday. That launch sparked what became a tense, months-long standoff between the two sides.

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations said last week that denuclearization was off the table in negotiations with the US, which he claimed had been a "time-saving trick" to benefit a "domestic political agenda."

Meanwhile, a satellite image obtained by CNN earlier this month indicates North Korea may be preparing to resume testing engines used to power satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The commercial satellite imagery, which was captured by Planet Labs, showed new activity at Sohae Satellite Launching Station and the presence of a large shipping container at the facility's engine test stand, according Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute, which works in partnership with the imaging company.

While engine tests are considered to be less provocative than those involving missiles or satellites, Lewis said that the activity at Sohae is a significant development and a step toward weapons launches of a more threatening nature.

In November, North Korea fired two projectiles that were "presumed to be fired from a super-large caliber multiple rocket launcher," South Korean army officials said.

The uptick in weapons testing comes amid increasing friction between North Korea and its main adversaries, South Korea and the United States. Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been at an impasse for weeks, and North Korea recently stated it is no longer interested in holding talks with the US.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un revived their war of words last week. A senior member of the North Korean government again described Trump as a "dotard" after the US President called Kim "Rocket Man."

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2019-12-14 08:04:00Z
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Boris Johnson campaigned for Brexit and against the E.U. Now Europe's leaders are delighted by his victory. - The Washington Post

European Union leaders welcomed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s election triumph on Dec. 13 as a chance to put three years of Brexit frustration behind them.

BRUSSELS — European leaders on Friday were toasting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s thumping election victory, embracing the decisive result for a man who campaigned for Brexit and against much of what they stand for.

The somewhat counterintuitive celebration stemmed from Europe’s resignation that Britain’s split from the European Union is inevitable, and from E.U. frustrations with more than three years of dealing with British leaders who were barely in control of their own Parliament.

Now, as European and British leaders prepare to embark on tense and tricky negotiations about their post-Brexit relationship, Europeans hope Johnson will be able to deliver on the deals he makes in the bargaining sessions. They also believe that Britain’s exit may be less drastic now that the size of Johnson’s win protects him from being taken hostage by Brexit hard-liners favor only the most severe breakup.

“To be honest, many of my counterparts were pleased at the fact that this was a clear outcome, that we’re not again facing a situation with a hung parliament where you can’t make headway in either direction,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who rarely speaks so openly about other countries’ internal politics.

“I have to pay my respects. Chapeau, one can only say, that he has managed to achieve this result,” she said, a smile flickering across her face.

Some leaders — perhaps channeling their own inclinations — suggested that pro-E.U. Brits may have voted for Johnson just to end the agony of Brexit uncertainty.

“I am sure that a lot of Remainers voted for Boris Johnson because they are fed up of not knowing what is going to happen, and they wanted just to have a finish, arrival, basta, finito. They wanted to have clarification,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told reporters Friday, beaming with apparent delight at the victory of a man with whom he has clashed in the past.

Chris Ratcliffe

Bloomberg

Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at No. 10 Downing Street following a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in London, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.

Even those who are likely to suffer most from Brexit expressed relief at the end to uncertainty.

“We had for a few years a Parliament that was not able to form a majority around anything,” said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. “We now clearly have a majority in the House of Commons to ratify the withdrawal agreement.”

Varadkar declared himself “relieved” by the result, even though he remained sad that Britain was departing and has raised concerns about the potential for disruption to trade and the reemergence of violence at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

E.U. leaders now expect Britain to leave on Jan. 31 and enter an 11-month limbo state, where it will still be subject to E.U. rules and will be able to trade with Europe as though it were a full-fledged member. But nothing is settled about the relationship between Britain and Europe after Dec. 31, 2020, when the transition period is set to end.

In that time frame, negotiators will somehow have to hammer out a major trade deal, as well as agreements about how Britain and Europe cooperate on security, foreign policy and a range of other issues. Virtually no one on the European side believes it possible to agree to a meaningful trade deal that fast — meaning either that Johnson will have to break a campaign promise by asking to extend the transition, or that Britain and the E.U. could wind up with the same type of sudden break at the end of 2020 that Parliament until now refused to allow.

Leaders are uncertain which approach Johnson will take, since he started his mandate in July with bombastic and uncompromising rhetoric, but then broke several of his own promises to compromise and deliver on a withdrawal deal in October.

He has declared himself in favor of a harsh split-up that would give Britain freedom to determine its own regulations and compete directly with Europe. But because that approach would lead to economic pain for many British businesses — and for many of the new Conservative supporters he picked up in old Labour heartlands — many in Europe are hopeful he will ultimately choose a closer relationship, which is what most of them want.

Analysts said one clue may lie in the origins of Johnson’s opposition to the E.U. Yes, he wrote anti-E.U. screeds as a newspaper correspondent based in Brussels. But he was reportedly conflicted on Brexit — writing two versions of a 2016 opinion column, one embracing Europe, the other rejecting it. And ultimately his choice may have had more to do with his political aspirations than with ideology.

Johnson has been “pragmatically anti-Europe because he thought it would win him the leadership of the Conservative Party,” said Michael Cox, an emeritus professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. “His notion of what is Brexit could be quite a pragmatic outcome.”

In Brussels, leaders were readying for the sprint of trade negotiations and debating how to structure them. Any trade deal will likely require a series of politically unpalatable decisions for Johnson, who will find that E.U. negotiators are insistent on closely aligned regulations in exchange for access to their vast market. Britain is of course deeply integrated into the E.U. market — since until now it has been a full member.

“It will contain many things he will have problems with,” said Fabian Zuleeg, the head of the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based think tank. “That is going to be a bit of a shock for the U.K.”

It wasn’t just European leaders who, in the landslide victory for Brexit, saw signs that the broad majority could actually lead to a softer split.

Nigel Farage, leader of the hardline Brexit Party and a radio talk show, said Friday he was happy that at least some version of Brexit would be happening — and that Johnson’s victory is “far better than the alternative,” a win by the socialist Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party.

But Farage said he does not believe Johnson’s Brexit will be what the people voted for. He said he still believes that Britain should crash out of its long partnership with Europe without a deal.

“Does it get Brexit done? Er, no,” Farage told ITV News. “I think we’re probably going to head into three years of pretty agonizing negotiations.”

Farage warned his followers that the bigger the Conservative majority in Parliament, the less influence the most hardcore Brexiteers and euroskeptics will have on Johnson. With a majority of at least 39 seats, Johnson won’t need every member of his party to vote for his measures. A couple of renegades in his own party will not be able to stop him, or make oversized demands, the way they did before.

And Farage’s Brexit Party appeared to be in meltdown. It got 2 percent of the total vote on Thursday, winning zero seats in the British Parliament. Since the party will lose its seats in the European Parliament on Jan. 31 assuming Britain leaves as planned, it will be diminished as a force in British and continental politics.

Brussels is delighted to say adieu to what it regards as obstructionist rabble.

Farage claimed credit for depressing the working-class Labour vote in its traditional heartlands, thus enabling Conservatives to win those constituencies for the first time in a century. He declined to discuss his own future.

Booth reported from London. Karla Adam in London and Quentin Ariès in Brussels contributed to this report.

Read more

Boris Johnson wins majority, while Jeremy Corbyn says he won’t lead another general election campaign

‘Get Brexit done’: Boris Johnson’s effective but misleading slogan in the British election

Who is Boris Johnson? The prime minister’s life in photos.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-12-13 15:18:00Z
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U.K. Election Updates: In Victory, Johnson Promises Brexit and More - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Conservatives celebrate their biggest win since Margaret Thatcher.
• Boris Johnson promises Brexit, and a life after it.
• Jeremy Corbyn says he will step aside — but not yet.
• The Conservative victory buoyed the pound and stocks.
• European leaders welcome decisive vote.

Image

Celebrations at a Conservative results party at a pub in central London.Credit...Andrew Testa for The New York Times

Conservatives celebrate their biggest win since Margaret Thatcher.

With all but one district declared on Friday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives had won 364 seats — 47 more than they won in the last election, in 2017.

The victory is the party’s biggest since Margaret Thatcher captured a third term in 1987 — “literally before many of you were born,” Mr. Johnson told supporters Friday morning. It gives him a comfortable majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.

“We did it,” he said. “We smashed it, didn’t we?”

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party had to reach even farther back to find a more extreme result. It won 203 seats, down 59 from the previous vote, in its worst showing since 1935. It had not suffered a similar drubbing since 1983, when it took 209 seats.

The Scottish National Party captured 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats, a gain of 13. The Liberal Democrats, who were hoping to ride an anti-Brexit stance back to prominence, won just 11 seats, one fewer than in 2017.

The Conservatives collected 43.6 percent of the popular vote, to 32.2 percent for Labour. That 11.3 percentage point margin was also the largest for the Tories since 1987 — a dramatic shift from 2017, when Labour lost the popular vote by just 2.4 percent.

U.K. Election Results Map: How Conservatives Won in a Landslide

Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a large majority in Parliament. Here’s how he did it.

Boris Johnson promises Brexit, and a life after it.

Speaking to his constituents in Uxbridge early Friday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the election results appeared to have given his government “a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.”

Later in the morning, he told supporters, “we put an end to all those miserable threats of a second referendum” that might have reversed the results of the 2016 vote on Brexit.

“We will get Brexit done on time on the 31st of January — no ifs, no buts, no maybes,” he added.

He visited Buckingham Palace and met with Queen Elizabeth II, who formally asked him to form a new government.

He also promised that his government would spend more at home after a decade of austerity under Conservative governments — in particular on Britain’s National Health Service, known commonly as the N.H.S., a cherished program whose conditions have deteriorated.

Mr. Johnson said that he would seek “to unite this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities of the British people, and above all on the N.H.S.”

As hospital beds have overflowed, waiting times have gone up and vacancies have gone unfilled, many Britons have grown fearful that the health service could be privatized or otherwise overhauled — for instance by a trade deal with the United States that could drive up drug prices. (President Trump, tweeting congratulations on Friday morning, said Britain could “strike a massive new Trade Deal” after Brexit.)

Mr. Johnson insisted he would protect the health service, echoing his campaign promises to hire 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 doctors.

He promised again to hire more police officers, whose ranks have also thinned, and vowed “colossal new investments in infrastructure and science.”

“Let’s spread opportunity to every corner of the U.K.”

Jeremy Corbyn says he will step aside — but not yet.

Speaking in his constituency of Islington in London, the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he would step down before the next general election, but would stay at the party’s helm for now, as it reflects on how to move forward from its dismal showing.

Mr. Corbyn is already under intense pressure to resign. His has been accused of poor leadership and of failing to handle accusations of anti-Semitism in the party ranks.

“I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign,” he said. “I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward and I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future.”

It was not clear how long Mr. Corbyn meant to stay on as party leader. The next election could be as long as five years away.

Some members of the Labour Party were quick to criticize him on Thursday night.

“The Labour Party has huge, huge questions to answer,” Ruth Smeeth, a former lawmaker, told Sky News. She immediately laid blame on Mr. Corbyn.

“Jeremy Corbyn should announce that he’s resigning as the leader of the Labour Party from his count today,” she said. “He should have gone many, many, many months ago.”

The Conservative victory buoyed the pound and stocks.

The pound jumped in value on Thursday night and remained high on Friday, buoyed by the receding prospect of a chaotic exit from the European Union without a divorce agreement. At midmorning, it stood at about $1.34, up from about $1.32 a day earlier.

Equity markets were similarly been lifted by the broad Conservative victory, with the FTSE 250 up more than 4 percent. The FTSE 100, which includes companies that rely more heavily on overseas earnings that would be dampened by a stronger pound, rose less sharply.

If the Conservatives manage to pass the withdrawal agreement bill as planned, the gains are likely to hold up through the end of the year, said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank. Easing global trade tensions should support markets too, after the United States and China, which have been locked in a trade war, settled on a partial deal.

Prospects look more uncertain for the new year.

The current deadline gives the British government has just 11 months to negotiate a complex deal on its long-term trading relationship with the European Union. The two sides may struggle to meet the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline, once again raising the prospect of a damaging “no-deal” Brexit.

“If negotiators get stuck or bogged down or become more fractious, there’s a prospect of more volatility in the currency,” Mr. Dixon said. “The risk of an accidental no-deal Brexit might keep the market on their toes.”

In the longer term, bond yields could also start to edge up if the Scottish secessionist movement gains momentum now that the Scottish National Party has won most of the seats in Scotland.

“The one thing which certain investors, maybe bond market investors, will look at again is the integrity of the U.K. following the strong Scottish result for the S.N.P.,” Mr. Dixon added.

European leaders welcome decisive vote.

European leaders on Friday welcomed the clarity of the British election result, which came during the last day of their summit meeting in Brussels, in hopes that it would make way for resolution of the Brexit deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson now has the majority needed to ratify his withdrawal agreement with Brussels by the Jan. 31 deadline laid out by Europe.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, congratulated Mr. Johnson on Twitter and said that he expected British Parliament to vote on the deal “as soon as possible.”

But that will only start the clock on new negotiations about Britain’s future trading and security relationship with the bloc. Mr. Johnson has said that will be quick and easy, but few experts agree. It can be quick, Brussels argues, only if Britain agrees to keep its regulations and tariffs the very close to those of the European Union.

European leaders remain unsure whether Mr. Johnson, with a resounding mandate, will stick to his campaign pledge to finish any trade negotiation with the European Union by the end of 2020, or choose next summer to seek a year’s delay for longer talks. So long as they are negotiating, Britain is in a “transition” period, and its relationship with the European Union is essentially unchanged, even if it will be legally out of the bloc.

Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s prime minister, said he hoped that Mr. Johnson would deliver on his campaign promises, as “people need to have clarity.”

“I hope that with yesterday’s results, they do,” he said. “The excuse that there is no clear majority in London doesn’t last anymore.”

But talks on the future relationship between Britain and the European Union are “not going to be simple,’’ he said.

Big gains for the Scottish National Party raise big questions.

The Scottish National Party’s success — it won 48 of the 59 seats that it contested — will intensify the debate over independence for Scotland, which voted against Brexit and has largely rejected Britain’s major parties.

In a 2014 referendum, 45 percent of the voters in Scotland backed independence, and as Brexit approaches, the Scottish National Party, which backs independence, has insisted on a second referendum.

Mr. Johnson has said a national government under him would not hold a Scottish independence vote, but the Scottish government has suggested that it might go ahead with one.

That raises the prospect of the kind of disarray and animosity plaguing Spain, where the government of Catalonia held an independence referendum two years ago that the central government said was illegal.

“The people of Scotland will have made very clear that they didn’t want Boris Johnson as P.M., that they don’t want Brexit, and they want Scotland’s future to be in Scotland’s hands,” Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, told Sky News late Thursday night. “There is a mandate now to offer the people of Scotland a choice over their own future.”

Before 2015, the Scottish National Party had never won more than seven seats in Parliament. But under Ms. Sturgeon, it has now dominated the Scottish vote in three successive elections.

Voters in Corbyn stronghold woke up to disappointment.

On Friday morning, voters in and around the heavily pro-Labour north London constituency represented by Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s leader, woke up dismayed by its losses nationally.

“He failed to lead a proper campaign,” said Sarah Rose, a 43-year-old sociologist, said of Mr. Corbyn as she walked her dogs in Clissold Park. “He failed to tackle accusations of anti-Semitism, and he failed to have a sensible position on Brexit. It’s devastating.”

As expected, Mr. Corbyn won a landslide re-election in this Labour stronghold, but many people said they had doubts about continuing to support him. And as commuters headed to work in a cold drizzle, Labour sympathizers said the party needed to think long and hard about the outcome.

“Nobody here was thinking that Labour would have a majority, and it’s now clear that nobody wants a future with Corbyn,” said Tom Findlay, a 46-year-old music producer and psychotherapist.

He said he went to bed after the first exit polls on Thursday night confirmed a sweeping defeat for Labour. After he woke up early on Friday, his disappointment deepened when he heard that Mr. Corbyn would cling, for now, to his leadership position.

Mr. Corbyn told supporters he would not lead the party into another election, but that he would still oversee a “process of reflection.” He didn’t specify when he would step down.

“It’s typical of his arrogance: he is planning to stay a little bit longer while it’s so clear that he has been rejected,” Mr. Findlay said.

But he tried to see a silver lining. Many people in his part of London were devastated, he said, adding, “it’s going to be good for my therapy business, unfortunately.”

Businesses are relieved but still nervous.

Britain’s businesses welcomed the strong result for the Conservatives and the Brexit certainty it is expected to bring, at least for now. But they remain fearful of facing another Brexit deadline at the end of next year.

“The starting point must be rebuilding business confidence, and early reassurance on Brexit will be vital,” said Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, the country’s biggest business association.

Parts of the economy have been in limbo for much of the past three years, as negotiations with the European Union dragged on, and Parliament was unable to muster majority support for any one approach.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have worried the business community at different points. Labour had promised to nationalize some industries, while Boris Johnson had unnerved businesspeople with his determination to plow on with leaving the European Union, even without an agreement.

Now, companies want to know that they won’t be staring down another potentially disastrous deadline next year.

“Firms will continue to do all they can to prepare for Brexit, but will want to know they won’t face another no deal cliff-edge next year,” Ms. Fairbairn said.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, called for some reassurances on the trade deal the government will have to negotiate with the European Union.

Helen Dickinson, the chief executive, called for a clear direction and “a fair deal for consumers that maintains tariff-free, frictionless trade with the E.U.”

More women than ever will take seats in Parliament.

Britain will have a record number of female members of Parliament after Thursday’s vote, when women won at least 220 of the 650 seats, according to the Press Association.

At just over one-third of the House of Commons, women remain far short of parity with men, but they have made tremendous gains since the mid-1980s, when there were only 23 in Parliament. In the last general election, in 2017, women won 211 seats, a record at the time.

This year’s increase comes at a time when many people feared that women were being driven away from politics in a climate of heightened divisions. Online threats and abuse have risen sharply, and were disproportionately directed at female candidates.

Ahead of the campaign, more than a dozen prominent female lawmakers said they would not be standing for re-election citing that abuse as a reason for stepping away from politics. Many female candidates described threats and insults as a grim new reality on the campaign trail, a change that cast a harsh light on British politics.

An analysis of Twitter during the campaign, conducted by PoliMonitor, showed that all candidates received about four times as much abuse as in the 2017 election. The hostility aimed at women, the study said, was often based specifically on their sex or appearance.

Reporting was contributed by Richard Pérez-Peña, Megan Specia, Benjamin Mueller, Steven Erlanger, Ceylan Yeginsu, Amie Tsang, Stephen Castle, Elian Peltier and Alan Yuhas.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiR2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMTkvMTIvMTMvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrLWVsZWN0aW9uLWJyZXhpdC5odG1s0gFLaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAxOS8xMi8xMy93b3JsZC9ldXJvcGUvdWstZWxlY3Rpb24tYnJleGl0LmFtcC5odG1s?oc=5

2019-12-13 11:39:00Z
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