At 10 p.m. last night voting in the General Election finished. The news programmes then immediately broadcast an exit poll which had been commissioned by the BBC and ITV. Everyone in the tv studios gasped as the exit poll predicted that the Tories would win the largest amount of seats, but not enough for an overall majority. This was at odds with the large amount of support they had when Theresa May announced the snap election seven weeks ago. Exit polls tend to be much more accurate than other polls, and so it proved in this case.
When we woke up in the morning the Tories had won 318 seats, eight short of the total required for a majority government. Labour had gained a lot and ended up with 261 seats, and the SNP had taken a bit of a drubbing in Scotland, dropping 21 seats although still being in the majority. Theresa May is currently liaising with the Ulster Unionists in order to remain in government.
It all seems a bit of a mess. My theory is that people are a bit fed up with elections at the moment. In less than three years we have had four really big ones - the Scottish Independence Referendum, a General Election, the European Referendum and now another General Election. Enough already! And I think that's why people were perplexed and unenthusiastic about Theresa May seeking her own election victory when she already had a majority.
But never mind all that, we are on our way to visit Alison and Hugh in Boat of Garten. The weather forecast is good and we are looking forward to our weekend.
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