So we Conservatives won the election, but not with the margin that we were hoping for. While democracy may sometimes feel inconvenient for a political party or voter it is the best system we have and the results must be wholeheartedly embraced. Voters are in charge!
So a disappointing result for Conservatives especially given that our lead over Labour of almost a million votes was larger than Labour’s lead in 2005 that delivered them a 65 seat majority.
Nevertheless, as the only party capable of forming a Government it is right that we form the Government, build a legislative agenda for a stronger and fairer country and do our best to act in the national interest.
I am pleased that several constituents have written to me to ask about how the supply and confidence agreement with the DUP will work, and rightly so. I have responded by explaining that under our constitution only the Conservatives were in a position to form a Government because Labour lost by such a big margin that they would have been unable to form a Government without every other MP, including the DUP, agreeing to support them. Clearly with the Labour leader’s attitude towards the IRA this was simply untenable.
Labour’s internal split over leaving the EU also counts against them being able to form any kind of stable government. 50 of their own MPs voted against the Party leadership and 3 shadow ministers were forced out of their jobs following a futile amendment to the Queen’s Speech.
Labour’s manifesto committed to leaving the Single Market and the EU and I was pleased to see that Labour’s attempt to play pointless games with the Queen’s Speech was roundly rejected last night.
Thankfully, we now have a Government and a Prime Minister that has been able to deliver its Queens Speech with the support of Parliament. With the most seats and the most votes, this is how democracy should work; whether we like it or not!