LONDON - Britain votes in a crucial general election on Thursday, with latest opinion polls showing Prime Minister Boris Johnson locked in a tight battle to win a majority and deliver his Brexit plans.
Here is an outline of the possible outcomes:
CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY
A Johnson victory, regaining the Conservative majority lost in 2017, is the most likely result according to bookmakers and pollsters.
But what seemed like a comfortable lead a few days ago now looks more precarious following the release of a major new survey on Tuesday.
The YouGov poll indicated the expected Conservative majority would be slashed from 68 seats to 28 since the last survey at the end of November, with a hung parliament now within the margin of error.
With 650 seats in parliament's lower House of Commons, the poll takes 326 as the magic number, predicting the Tories will win 339 seats.
But with Irish Republican party Sinn Fein having a policy of not sending MPs to the British parliament, and with the speakers not normally involved in parliamentary votes, a working majority can be obtained with fewer seats.
In 2017, the Conservatives won 317 seats and went on to govern after striking a deal with Northern Ireland's 10 Democratic Unionist Party MPs.
Any kind of majority should allow Johnson to get through his Brexit deal agreed with Brussels, putting Britain on course to leave the European Union by January 31.
LABOR MAJORITY
Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn could upset the odds and secure a majority for his left-wing agenda, which includes the re-nationalization of key sectors, including the railways and energy, and a massive public spending spree.
Britain would also vote again on whether to leave the EU with the options being a "softer" Brexit deal negotiated by his party or remaining in the union.
A Labor victory would represent a major breakthrough on the global stage for the far-left movement backed by younger voters.
HUNG PARLIAMENT
If no party achieves a working majority, then Britain would have another hung parliament, as in 2010 and 2017.
The Conservatives are still expected to win the most seats and, as incumbent, Johnson would remain prime minister and get first crack at striking a deal with opposition parties, either to join a formal coalition or for them to agree to back him on crucial votes in an informal pact.
But he has few friends outside his own party and is unlikely to win the support of the DUP this time round as they are unhappy with his Brexit deal.
Johnson could then quit or try to go it alone in a minority government, which would require him to win key votes when parliament returns.
He would be obliged to resign if his attempts failed.
Corbyn would then try to form a government, with the Scottish National Party (SNP) indicating they would back him if he agreed to a second Scottish independence referendum.
The Liberal Democrats could also be tempted by Labor's commitment to a second Brexit referendum, but have so far "absolutely categorically" ruled out backing Corbyn, citing his radical economic agenda and anti-Semitism within his party.
Without them, Corbyn would probably fall short of forming a government or securing the backing needed to sustain a minority government.
Another election would be the only way to break the deadlock.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Britain's 2 biggest parties said there was renewed impetus Saturday to find a compromise on Brexit after taking a battering in local elections from voters exasperated by the impasse.
Prime Minister Theresa May's governing center-right Conservatives had a disastrous result, losing more than a thousand seats in the English local authority polls.
But the left-wing Labour main opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn failed to capitalize, and even managed to lose seats.
Instead, 2 pro-EU parties profited: the centrist, Liberal Democrats were up 676 and the left-wing Greens added 185. Independents meanwhile gained 242.
Yet, in a sign of the frustration among pro-Brexit supporters, many voters boasted on social media of how they spoiled their ballots, writing "Brexit betrayal" and "traitors" on their voting slips.
The Conservatives and Labour are in prolonged talks on finding a compromise to break the Brexit deadlock after MPs failed to agree on a divorce deal with the European Union.
"We can look at those local election results as a punishment for both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party for failing to find a way through," Justice Secretary David Gauke told BBC television.
Corbyn told ITV there was clearly a "huge impetus... that an arrangement has to be made, a deal has to be done; parliament has to resolve this issue".
With the divorce deal hanging in the balance, Britain's exit date from the EU has been pushed back twice from the original March 29 to October 31.
Britain's voted in June 2016 in favor of leaving the bloc.
SHADOW OVER EU POLL
In the local elections, the Conservatives were expected to lose seats, with sitting governments traditionally taking a mid-term hit.
Meanwhile Labour could have expected to make the sort of sweeping gains opposition parties on course for government typically pocket.
However, the results were far worse for both major parties than they might have projected.
With more than 8,000 council seats up for grabs in England, the Conservatives were net down 1,269 -- the worst local elections performance, in raw numbers, by a governing party since 1995 -- while Labour shed 63.
This year's local elections took place in largely rural and suburban England, where generally the Liberal Democrats provide the main alternative to the Conservatives in the south and to Labour in the north.
Without a resolution to Brexit, the scenario could be worse for the big parties at the European Parliament elections. They are scheduled to take place in Britain on May 23 following the last extension to the Brexit deadline granted by the EU.
The Conservative and Labour will face euroskeptic Nigel Farage's Brexit Party -- which leads in the opinion polls -- and pro-EU centrists Change UK.
Neither newly-formed party stood in the local elections, the polls coming too soon to find the thousands of candidates necessary.
The prime minister interpreted the election outcome to be a simple message to the Conservatives and Labour to "just get on and deliver Brexit".
"Because we haven't delivered the Brexit deal through parliament yet, this was going to be a particularly challenging set of elections for both of the main parties," May said during a speech in Grimsby, eastern England, late Friday.
'TREATED LIKE FOOLS'
In their first chance to dissect the results, newspapers also weighed in.
The front page of the strongly pro-Brexit publication the Daily Express read: "Got the message? Deliver Brexit!"
The similarly pro-Brexit Daily Mail printed an editorial calling the polls "an immense howl of anger, exasperation and derision at a pathetic political elite failing abysmally in its key task".
It said the public were "sick to death of being treated like fools".
The Sun said of May: "The party she has devoted her life to is demoralized, exhausted and staring into the abyss."
The Times's front page said May will be told by senior Conservatives that next week she must set a date for her own departure.
May has said she will step aside once a Brexit deal has been passed by parliament.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Britain's parliament has demanded that Prime Minister Theresa May renegotiate a Brexit divorce deal that the other members of the European Union say they will not reopen.
Less than two months until the United Kingdom is due by law to leave the EU, the options include a disorderly Brexit, a delay to Brexit or no Brexit at all.
Below is a summary of what is due to happen next:
MAY MEETS CORBYN
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had refused to hold talks on Brexit with May, said after the vote on Tuesday night that he was now prepared to meet with her.
That meeting is due to take place at 1500 GMT on Wednesday, with a source in his party saying Corbyn would tell May a no-deal exit must be taken off the table and she should pursue his party's "alternative plan" for Brexit.
May's Conservatives do not have a majority in parliament and many of her own lawmakers and the small Northern Irish Party which props up her government oppose her deal as it stands, so winning the support of Labour would help ensure she can get it through parliament.
The meeting is not expected to result in a breakthrough.
MAY SPEAKS TO LAWMAKERS
On Tuesday, lawmakers backed a symbolic call on the government to stop a potentially disorderly no-deal exit, sending a signal that most oppose such a departure. It does not bind the government but May said she would talk to lawmakers to discuss how that outcome could be prevented by securing a deal which parliament could support.
May also said she would engage seriously with a compromise plan put forward by Conservative lawmakers which seeks to draw a line under internal divisions that have so far prevented parliament approving a deal.
It courts Brexiteers with a promise to ditch an unpopular Irish border policy in favour of an alternative, and appeals to remain-supporting Conservatives by pledging safeguards against the risk of disruption if no deal can be agreed with the EU.
MAY SPEAKS TO EU LEADERS
May has said she will speak to the EU to seek the changes demanded by parliament, but she has no confirmed plans to travel to Brussels yet.
EU27 ambassadors are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss Brexit, and May will speak to European Council President Donald Tusk by phone at 1745 GMT on Wednesday.
On Tuesday Tusk said the divorce deal was not up for renegotiation.
May will also speak to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar later on Wednesday.
NEXT VOTE IN UK PARLIAMENT
May said the government would bring a revised deal back to parliament for a vote as soon as possible. Before the previous vote, parliament held five days of debate but it is not clear whether there would be another lengthy debate before any subsequent vote.
May said that if she did not bring a deal back for a vote by Feb. 13, she would make a statement to parliament and put forward a motion for debate on Feb. 14. Lawmakers will be able to put propose amendments to that motion.
An attempt by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper and Conservative Nick Boles to give parliament the power to request a delay to Britain's March 29 exit was defeated by lawmakers on Tuesday, but Boles said he would renew that effort on Feb. 14 if a deal has not been passed by then.
"We remain committed to ensuring that we don't reach the cliff edge on 29 March without a deal," Boles and Cooper said in a statement on Tuesday.
May also said that if she brings a deal back for a vote and it is rejected, she will put forward a motion the following day which lawmakers will be able to propose amendments to.
EU SUMMIT
All EU leaders are due to meet in Brussels on March 21-22. This could be an oppportunity for an eleventh-hour deal, or it would be the last chance to agree an extension of the Article 50 negotiation period and delay Brexit to avoid no-deal disruptions.
EXIT DAY?
If May does not get a deal approved by parliament by March 29, Britain faces a disorderly exit, or may be forced to seek an extension of Article 50 to give more time to reach an agreement. It is not certain the EU would agree to this. Some lawmakers, including Labour leader Corbyn, have said it is now "inevitable" that the government will have to seek an extension regardless, as there will not be enough time to pass the necessary legislation for Britain's exit before March 29. Last week the leader of Britain's lower house of parliament, Andrea Leadsom, said the date might need to be pushed back by a couple of weeks.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS
The bloc will vote to elect a new European Parliament on May 23-26. The new chamber would sit from July 2, a date that is shaping up to be the EU's limit for any extension of Article 50.
The EU says Britain would have to organise European Parliament elections on its soil if it were to delay Brexit beyond that as otherwise its people would be deprived of their democratic representation while still being in the EU. The bloc fears Britain would not do that.
Some in the EU also fear that, should Britain vote, it would elect a staunchly eurosceptic representation to the European Parliament that is already expected to have a larger contingent of EU critics influencing the bloc's policies.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
