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2019 General Election GapFill
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The 2019 general election represented a decisive shift in British politics after a decade of turbulence and closely fought election results. The incumbent Conservative government was led by and governed as a minority government after the hung parliament of the previous election in . The broader context was an ongoing crisis over negotiations to leave the European Union. Arrangements to leave the EU had failed to be approved by Parliament repeatedly, leading to parliamentary gridlock and a general inability to pass legislation. The Labour Party challenger going into the election was
The Prime Minister had taken office five months prior to the election following the resignation of , the previous prime minister, who had suffered a record number of parliamentary defeats, including the two largest government defeats in parliamentary history. The previous government had become hopelessly divided between those backing a second referendum on EU membership or a gentle exit from European institutions, and those who wanted to leave the EU without any prior arrangements being made at all. The previous prime minister was unable to unite these groups, plus the Northern Irish Party on whose votes the government was reliant to pass legislation after failing to secure a majority at the previous election. As a result, the new prime minister expelled much of the faction from the party and sought a general election after repeatedly losing votes in Parliament in order to try to secure a majority for his approach to Brexit negotiations.
The Conservative campaign focused singularly on the issue of Brexit, adopting the simple slogan , in reference to the general displeasure among the population regarding the parliamentary stalemate over the issue. The Prime Minister argued that the government was new, and so not fully responsible for the track record of the Conservatives in government over the last decade. The Labour campaign generally tried to ignore the issue of Brexit, as Labour voters were strongly divided over the issue. Instead the party focused on radical economic policies, such as , which had performed well in the previous election. Media coverage was generally hostile to the Labour leader and favourable to the Conservative Party.
The result was a Conservative victory, forming a of 80 seats. The victory was larger than many had expected given the result of the previous election and the narrowing of opinion polls during the campaign. The UK subsequently left the EU on 31st January 2020.