Member Article

Election 2015: Has Esther McVey cost the Tories an overall majority?

As the results from last night’s General Election trickle in, the Conservative Party currently lead the way after maintaining a stronghold on several key constituencies. However, the predictions currently suggest that David Cameron’s party may lose out on an overall majority by just one seat, while Esther McVey has lost her grasp on a previous Tory-safe seat in Wirral West - could this defeat in the North result in the most monumental close call in UK election history?

Meanwhile, Nick Clegg admitted the Liberal Democrats have suffered a ‘cruel and punishing night’ as his party are currently forecast to win as little as 12 seats, according to BBC forecasts. Current Business Secretary Vince Cable is amongst those who have lost their seats.

The Labour party are hot on the heels of the Tories, as Ed Miliband secures his seat in Doncaster, he said; “Clearly this has been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party.

“We haven’t made the gains we wanted in England and Wales and in Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelming our party.”

The night was a mixed bag for UKIP as Douglas Carswell maintained his seat in Clacton-on-Sea but the party leader Nigel Farage’s stance in South Thanet is still unclear.

Despite the upset in the North West, Cameron remains positive about the results, he commented: “My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom,”

“I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland.

“In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost - the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .