The Atlantic

British Voters: Trust Nobody

A hung parliament, in which no party can command majority support, is an entirely fitting, and indeed justified, response to the choice presented to the electorate.
Source: Toby Melville / Reuters

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Fortified by a 20-point lead in the opinion polls, Theresa May, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, called a general election in April assuming that, all things being equal, she couldn’t possibly lose. In 2015, David Cameron had won a small and fragile majority in the House of Commons, but this was Mrs. May’s opportunity to transform it into, as she said, a “strong and stable” government that would be well-placed to lead the U.K. through the choppy waters of leaving the European Union. An increased majority, she promised, would “strengthen” her hand in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

Some hand. Some strength. Some stability. May lost 12 seats, winning just

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