UK Election 2015

The UK general election held in May this year produced a surprising result not predicted by survey’s leading up to polling day, or the exit poll itself – a Conservative Majority in the House of Commons. With 331 seats, David Cameron was able to form a majority government, yet all sources prior to the results suggested a hung parliament, with many deals being bartered in the coming days to form a new coalition.

It doesn’t matter who you vote for, the government gets in.

2015 Election Results (photo credit Wikipedia)

I myself sat up most of the night following the closing of polls to watch the results come in and then most of the day on Friday refreshing the BBC election website, updating fellows on the results in race control while we discussed the winners and losers of the night. The election itself was uninteresting in my view, but the results were not, and the results were, in my opinion, the best outcome for the country. For better or for worse, we now have a single party government capable of running the country without bickering between a coalition. Whether you agree with a Conservative majority or not makes no difference that a single party in Westminster is better for our country than a coalition of differing views. Labour have not yet shaken off their past prior to the 2010 election, with Miliband refusing to accept any responsibility for the financial crisis which occurred during their control, I feel this cost Labour greatly. The Liberal Democrats had been reduced to rubble following their coalition in 2010, going back on many election promises such as lowing of university fees which I think cost them more than they would like to admit. Many students in 2010, the first election with a true social media presence, were enthralled with the idea of cheaper university. Many were then angered when they increased later that year.

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.

The face of a defeated man – Nick Clegg resigns (photo credit BBC)

But the left is facing fresh problems following a Conservative majority government, with protests in London following the result. A minority of left-wing supporters are protesting the austerity which they think will happen under Cameron’s government, and others are defacing war memorials and other property for one reason – they cannot face losing. The problem with statistics is you can make anything look bad with the right spin. But if, as the protests say, 37% is not a majority, neither is 30% for Labour, neither is 13% for UKIP. But 37% is the biggest majority, because the remaining 63% is not for one party. The problem with the protests over the new government is that the protesters/left-wing side are coming across to the silent majority as sore losers, unable to accept what 11.3 million people wanted. 11.3 million people voted for the Conservative party, compared with 9.3 million for Labour. By complaining, it is effectively saying that the voice of 11.3 million people are not worthy of being listened to, which is not how an equal and fair society operates. If Labour had won, or formed their coalition with the Lib Dems would there still be protests from the right-wing losers?

If you did not vote at all, then you have no complaint to make, for you did nothing to try and change the result.