But once the results were announced while UK voted for defining and underlining ‘Brexit”, the independent assertion of Britain, the Indian voters echoed the sentiment of nationalism and patriotism. This was Britain’s Brexit elections, which would facilitate the UK to complete the process of divorce from the European Union (EU) that the referendum of 2016 chose.

Till the final votes were cast an impression was making round the political circle that people will resort to pragmatism and vote objectively for economic issues. Similar was the feeling in Britain that socio-economic issues like promoting education, caring for the public health, the NHS, would make the people vote for Labour. If in India public did not rally behind Rahul Gandhi on their conjecture of he being immature and left to the centre, the Britons were sceptical of Jeremy Corbyn being a hard core leftist and a believer of Marxism.

Though all the basic electoral indices did not favour Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate, he was described a liar, an incompetent politician, even then he got elected. The rightist forces rallied behind him. Even the centrist and liberal democrats ignored Corbyn. What has been most significant is the Indian voters showed their backs to Corbyn. Their concern for their own interest back home was so pronounced and acute that preferred to overlook their personal interest in UK.

Significantly Conservative has fielded a significant number of candidates of Indian origin. This helped the conservative to sway the Indian voters. While they were already cut up with Labour party for adopting an anti-Indian resolution in the backdrop of the Kashmir issue, the Indians played crucial role in not less than 32 constituencies. Even those Indians who have been traditional voters of Labour this time voted for Conservative.

Interestingly a widely quoted former Conservative politician described the election as an “appalling choice” between a “compulsive liar” and a “totalitarian” that will define their country’s destiny. Now it is the responsibility of the new Conservative government to decide the fate of the Britons, especially the migrant Indians and Asians. It will have to decide whether the UK leaves the EU early in 2020 and if so, what sort of relationship it will have with Europe in the future how far it would work to protect the interest of its people.

Johnson has asked voters for a clear majority in order to “get Brexit done” by quickly passing his deal, so that the UK can be out of the EU next month. He then wants to begin negotiations with Europe for a set of free trade terms, and wrap up the process by its December 31, 2020 deadline. The Tories have also promised more funds for the National Health Service and for police.

Once the results are out even friends and party leaders of Corbyn have started blaming him for the defeat. It is alleged that Corbyn was not clear about his mission and due to this the Labour manifesto has laid out a convoluted roadmap. In fact the result is being interpreted as repudiation of Corbynism. They allege that the Labour lost as Corbyn wanted to force his own ideological approach. It is said that a hard-left clique led the party into a dead end.

Surprisingly while the Labour supporters are angry at the Tories for winning this election, they also feel an equal rage for the leaders who let them do it. It is said that some of the Labour leaders did not put their best and even refrained from carrying out serious campaigning. They also blame Corbyn for not making way for other party leaders. With his face everywhere other Labour heavyweights banished from the airwaves. It is also alleged that Corbyn is the most unpopular opposition leader.

Nevertheless it is absolutely clear that Labour’s “radical” manifesto of 2019 achieved precisely nothing. In fact it is said that the common voters could not comprehend it and identify their aspiration with it. Corbyn has led Labour into the abyss; a coterie of Corbynites cared more about gripping power within the party than saving the country by winning the election.

Johnson now has a mandate to complete the business of the 2016 referendum and to take Britain out of the EU. Nevertheless he is yet to win the battle on the terms under which the UK will trade with the EU. On this, he has neither defined his goal nor negotiated a deal to reach it. The people are sceptical of Boris’s promises of accomplishing the Brexit task within 12 months. It is hard to believe he will do so, as promised. This is too important an issue to be imprisoned by a timetable. Mr Johnson should accept a delay if necessary. He now has the authority to defy any objectors within his party.

The biggest loser of 2019 is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. The party’s 203 seats is its lowest total since 1935. In 18 years, Labour has lost more than 50% of the seats it won in 2001. The Tories swept through constituencies in the Midlands and the north of England that Labour has rarely lost in its history. In Wales, Wrexham now has its first Conservative MP since the first world war. In Scotland, Labour lost six of its seven seats. After nine years of divisive and troubled Tory rule, this is the first time Tory has got a clean mandate to rule.

At the root of Labour’s defeat lies an unstable alliance of Labour’s left and centre, its remain and leave electorates, and its middle-class and working-class bases. In the 1980s, 80% of Labour voters were manual workers and their families. Today, that figure is around 40%. Meanwhile, Corbyn’s allies quickly laid the blame with the party’s Brexit stance, pointing to the fact that Labour’s losses were greatest in leave-leaning seats.

Many Corbyn allies in key positions during the 2017 general election complained bitterly at the time that veteran party officials, including the elections chief Patrick Heneghan, had restrained them from running an offensive campaign. Party strategists made clear from the outset of this campaign that they were determined to make inroads in Tory territory, targeting up to 100 seats. Corbyn determined to make gains and penetrate deep into Tory support base has been visiting targets in the first few days of electioneering. But campaign veterans say there was a lack of focus and coordination, followed by a refusal to retreat to a more defensive stance as polling and campaign data continued to point to a Conservative majority. (IPA Service)