Brexit was clearly winning | Keep …

PageI12 in Great Britain

From London

Several winners and two big defeats in the European Parliament elections have redefined the British political scene against Brexit. The winning party of Nigel Farage won 31.6% of the vote, but the joint vote for parties wishing to remain in the European Union has surpbaded with some clarity those who want to leave the block: 40.4% against 34.9%.

There is no doubt about the vanquished. With more than 20%, the Liberal Democrats moved Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party (14.1%) to a poor third place, while the Greens (12.1%) relegated the Conservatives to a humiliating fifth place (9.9%). , 1%). ), but there was a high rate of abstention that prevented projections at the national level: only 36.7% voted to go to the polls.

Even so, in the United Kingdom, as in the rest of the European Union, participation in the 2014 elections has increased. In the entire block, the largest number of voters has been registered over the past 20 years, sign of a symbolic significance. this was given to the election by the irruption of anti-European right-wing groups and by the Brexit itself, the first time that a member of the EU seeks to leave the block.

The end result gives something for everyone. This was not a mbadive vote for the far right, but a sign of its strength as a new pan-European force. Only 4 of the 28 members of the bloc have no political representation of ultras. In France, Italy, Hungary and Poland constitute the first force, as in the United Kingdom, with the British peculiarity that its deputies were in principle elected with an expiry date: October 31, the UK must leave the block, unless a new extension is negotiated (this would be the third).

At the European level, green has become the second European engine in Germany and the third in France, in both cases exceeding the traditional political formations. This leads to the fact that the two dominant European forces in parliament, the conservatives and the social democrats, will have to forge alliances for the formation of a parliamentary majority.

The United Kingdom displays a similar trend with regard to the excellent choice of greens, but in the rest, it retains such notorious peculiarities as driving with the steering wheel on the other side of its always European partners . With a deadline at sight, the choice had more to do with the hamlet's dilemma of leaving the EU than knowing what to do inside it.

Prime Minister Theresa May lamented the magnitude of the defeat, but today, her voice is barely counting. On Friday, she announced that she would leave the party leadership on June 7 and remain acting prime minister until the Conservative Party chooses a new leader who will automatically become his successor. This process will last until mid-July.

The success of Farage leads more to the candidatures of conservatives favorable to a Hard Brexit (exit with or without agreement). The favorite is currently the former mayor of London and former Chancellor Boris Johnson, followed by two candidates who are even more to his right. Only two of the candidates belong to the more moderate version of the pro-European camp.

The possibility of a party implosion is high. Members of the pro-European minority have not ruled out voting with the opposition for new elections if Theresa May's successor wants to leave the bloc without an agreement. A conservative historian, Lord Michael Heseltine, several times minister and formerly deputy prime minister, has publicly stated that he would vote for MEPs for Liberal Democrats. "For the first time in my life, I do not vote for the Conservatives," he said.

The mediocre result in the election of the Labor Party also changes things. Jeremy Corbyn spoke of the need to "consult the people again, whether through general elections or a public vote". Labor and anti-Corbyn MPs, as well as trade unionists, criticized the latter's ambiguity regarding Brexit. In the midst of the polarization produced by the theme, Corbyn repeated his "broad avenue in the middle", purported to unite those who voted for and against the exit. The shot went back against him.

In very pro-European Scotland, the Labor Party, which had regained ground in the 2017 general election, was ravaged by Scottish independence fighters. In northern England, pro-Brexit territory, lost in the hands of Nigel Farage's party, even though he at least maintained his presence. In Wales, he ranked third after the Brexit Party and the Welsh autonomists. The risk of internal schism is in sight. As for the Conservatives, Alastair Campbell, former press officer for Tony Blair, a heavyweight union activist, confessed that he would not vote for the Labor Party in these elections "for the first time in my life". Corbyn will have to define more clearly his position on Brexit and the second referendum, but in doing so he will inevitably generate enemies.