Another messy night

LABOUR overturned a majority of more than 20,000 in the Selby and Ainsty by-election on Thursday to gain its second biggest swing from the Tories since 1945.

Keir Mather, aged 25, will become the youngest MP in the House of Commons - the Baby of the House - after he secured 16,456 votes (46%) compared to Conservative candidate Clare Holmes's 12,295 (34.3%) on a swing of 23.7%.

Additionally, on a night when three seats were up for grabs, the Tories also lost heavily in Somerton and Frome to the Liberal Democrats who produced a quite remarkable 29% swing.

But, in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the Conservatives defied dreadful national polls by claiming victory in the seat vacated in July by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mr Johnson had resigned as an MP following the publishing of a highly-critical report by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee into Partygate which recommended his suspension from Parliament.

But, despite avoiding the indignity of becoming the first PM to lose three by-elections on the same night since Harold Wilson in 1968, the storm clouds are still gathering for the current incumbent Rishi Sunak.

After all, the held seat in outer London was attributed almost entirely to local factors with triumphant Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell pointedly directing his victory speech to Labour mayor Sadiq Khan for his proposed imposition of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on the area.

Under the scheme, drivers must pay £12.50 per day if they drive a vehicle which does not meet modern emission standards.

Generally, these are diesel vehicles that are more than seven years old, or petrol vehicles that are more than 17 years old.

Mr Khan defended the policy even after the result in the early hours of Friday morning, saying: "It was a difficult decision to take. But just like nobody will accept drinking dirty water, why accept dirty air?"

Additionally, the complaints of the Conservatives ring rather hollow if the reality of the situation is considered as ULEZ was actually initiated by Mr Johnson while he was London mayor.

The extension of the scheme to outer London under Mr Khan was also a condition set by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in exchange for financial support for Transport for London during COVID-19.

Nonetheless, Mr Tuckwell's message had a decisive effect on the seat - and, after being decidedly non-committal during campaign, Labour leader Sir Keir Starter called upon Mr Khan to "reflect" on his decision to expand ULEZ, all of a sudden rather hanging him out to dry.

That much-quoted adage of Benjamin Franklin of never interrupting an opponent while they are making a mistake appears to explain the previously cautious strategy of the Labour leader.

But, despite failing in Uxbridge, this somewhat questionable tactic might still work overall as, another political cliché - which suggests governments lose elections instead of oppositions winning them - also appears to be ringing true.

The defeat in Selby and Ainsty, a long-time Tory-held rural seat in North Yorkshire, can only be considered to be a response to a government which has dragged the public, in political terms, to hell and back.

It started with austerity brought in by David Cameron in 2010 in the wake of the global financial crisis - then, following his resignation immediately after a losing the Brexit referendum in 2016, his successor Theresa May called a self-defeating General Election in which she lost her majority and caused complete stalemate in the Commons.

Mrs May's eventual replacement Mr Johnson - following a difficult start in which he almost seemed like his own worst enemy even among his own party - appeared to steady matters by routing a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour at the 2019 General Election.

But, three months later, COVID-19 arrived and threw the government into chaos again.

Mr Johnson applied inconsistent lockdown restrictions while Downing Street staff members unashamedly held alcohol-fuelled parties, including one on the night before Queen Elizabeth II buried her husband Prince Philip.

Eventually, after months of pressure, Mr Johnson was forced to resign as PM in July 2022, prompting a messy leadership election from which Liz Truss somehow emerged the winner.

Ms Truss arrived attempting to increase spending and cut taxes, an audacious move at a time of rising prices worldwide and one which spooked the markets so badly that, with a tenure of only 49 days, she became the shortest reigning Prime Minister in history.

Enter Mr Sunak but, as something of a charisma vacuum, he is also someone who - it has been perhaps less easily forgotten - stood alongside and was fined for a coronavirus indiscretion alongside Mr Johnson while Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Back to the by-elections on Thursday - and the south west of England is an area in which Labour has never been particularly competitive and their voters also appear willing to vote tactically.

In fact, in Somerton and Frome, the Labour candidate polled a miserable 1,009 votes (2.6%) to lose his deposit - but Labour voters there surely knew it was the Lib Dems who are the main threat to the Tories anyway.

By-election victories in Tiverton and Honiton in June 2022 and now in Somerton and Frome strongly suggest Sir Ed Davey's party will indeed cause a lot of trouble for the Tories in this region at the next General Election.

In 1997, the Lib Dems won 14 seats in the south west - and they won the same number in 2010 in an overall total of 57 to prevent Mr Cameron from gaining a majority at the first attempt.

Instead, a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition was formed - though, following a near-wipeout in 2015, the Lib Dems certainly will not go down that particularly cul-de-sac again in the course of another hung parliament.

Of course, Labour continues to boast significant poll leads so will be looking towards a first outright majority since Tony Blair was victorious in 2005.

But results like the one in Uxbridge cast doubt on that ambition.

Indeed, only a fool would assess the next General Election on the basis of a uniform national swing in which all of the seats across the whole country are predicted to behave in the same way.

The political landscape has been messy for almost two decades now with the global financial crisis, austerity policies, Brexit and COVID-19 causing various levels of chaos.

It is difficult to imagine then that the next General Election - expected in spring or autumn next year - will be anything other than messy too. 

BY ELECTION RESULTS

Thursday 20 July 2023

UXBRIDGE AND SOUTH RUISLIP
Steve Tuckwell	CON	13,965	45.2%	(-7.4%)
Danny Beales	LAB	13,470	43.6%	(+6.0%)
Sarah Green	GRN	893	2.9%	(+0.7%)
Laurence Fox	RCM	714	2.3%	(-)
Blaise Baquiche	LD	526	1.7%	(-4.6%)
Others		1,357	4.4%

CON hold • Turnout 46.2% (17.3%)

SELBY AND AINSTY
Keir Mather	LAB	16,456	46.0%	(+21.4%)
Claire Holmes	CON	12,295	34.3%	(-26.0%)
Arnold Warneken	GRN	1,838	5.1%	(+1.9%)
Mike Jordan	YP	1,503	4.2%	(+0.8%)
Dave Kent	RFM	1,332	3.7%	(-)
Matt Walker	LD	1,188	3.3%	(-5.3%)
Others		1,195	3.5%

LAB GAIN FROM CON • Turnout 44.8% (-27.2%)

SOMERTON AND FROME
Sarah Dyke	LD	21,187	54.6%	(+28.4%)
Faye Purbrick	CON	10,179	26.2%	(-29.6%)
Martin Dimery	GRN	3,944	10.2%	(+5.1%)
Bruce Evans	RFM	1,303	3.4%	(-)
Neil Guild	LAB	1,009	2.6%	(-10.3%)
Others		1,166	3.0%

LD GAIN FROM CON • Turnout 44.2% (-31.4%)

KEY ▪️ CON Conservatives • LAB Labour • LD Liberal Democrats • GRN Green • RCM Reclaim • YP Yorkshire Party • RFM Reform UK

General Election comes in with the cold

🎄⭐️GENERAL ELECTION 2019⭐️🎄

BRITAIN will head to the polls for the first General Election to be held in December since 1923 after the Early Parliamentary General Election Bill passed through both Houses of Parliament.

The poll - on Thursday 12 December - will be the fourth in a decade which has also included votes on Scottish membership of the United Kingdom in 2014 and UK membership of the European Union in 2016.

Of course, it is since the result of the latter referendum that Parliament has basically been gridlocked and unable to find any sort of way forward.

As briefly as possible then, here is how events have unfolded in the last three-and-a-half years...

On 23 June 2016 - a matter of 1,225 days ago now - the UK opted to leave the EU by a margin of 51.89% to 48.11% with England and Wales largely voting to leave, while Scotland and Northern Ireland largely voted to remain.

Then-Prime Minister David Cameron immediately resigned and Theresa May emerged as the last woman standing following a rather messy Conservative leadership election in which the initial favourite - Boris Johnson - did not even stand.

Mr Cameron had at least bequeathed a majority in the House of Commons to Mrs May, albeit only a relatively small one of 17.

But, with the Conservatives holding a massive poll lead of up to 21 points, Mrs May called an early General Election in a bid to strengthen her negotiating hand with the EU.

Unexpectedly, it all went horribly wrong for Mrs May who lost her majority following her own disastrous campaign and the resurgence of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.

Instead, to keep herself in office, Mrs May was forced into a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party, a hardline Northern Irish group of 10 MPs.

But, while Mrs May was nominally still in office, she held little power - and, having stalled in bringing her Withdrawal Agreement with the EU to the Commons in December 2018, she had to ward off a vote of no confidence among Conservative MPs.

That vote was one of Mrs May's very few successes during her term - and she would ultimately then put her deal before Parliament on three separate occasions in the first few months of this year.

On each occasion, the proposal was defeated - and, in fact, it was refused by a record of 432 votes to 202 on the first attempt on 15 January.

Humiliated, Mrs May was left with no choice other than to request a Brexit extension which was eventually granted by the EU to run until today.

By this point, though, Nigel Farage had returned to the forefront with his new vehicle for self-aggrandisement, the Brexit Party.

And so, in the 2019 European elections that should never have been, the Brexit Party repeated the UKIP achievement of 2014 by winning the most votes and seats.

By contrast, the Tories had plunged to fifth place with just 8.8% of the vote nationally.

Mrs May choked back her tears as she made her resignation speech in Downing Street and so began another frantic Conservative Party leadership contest.

Rather ridiculously, no fewer than 10 Tory MPs received enough nominations to be considered - although it quickly became inevitable that Mr Johnson would emerge as the victor.

Unlike Mrs May, though, Mr Johnson did not inherit a majority - and so the new PM quickly ran into his own problems in the Commons.

Famously, Mr Johnson declared he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than fail to leave the EU on Hallowe'en - but he can hardly be seen to have helped himself achieve his aim.

On his first day in the Commons on 3 September, Mr Johnson lost his majority even when counting the DUP after Phillip Lee crossed the floor - literally - and defected to the Liberal Democrats following a disagreement with Brexit policy.

Later that day, 21 Conservative MPs including two former Chancellors Kenneth Clarke and Philip Hammond had the party whip withdrawn for supporting an opposition motion aimed at blocking a no-deal Brexit.

The ousted rebels also included Sir Nicholas Soames - the grandson of former Conservative Party Leader Sir Winston Churchill - as Mr Johnson tempestuously reduced his own working majority to minus 43.

Unsurprisingly then, in record-breaking style, the Prime Minister lost his first six Commons votes throughout September as Parliament prevented him from calling an election while the grim prospect of leaving the EU without a deal was still possible.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson had also failed to prorogue Parliament for an extra-long period in another move widely expected to be an improper attempt to avoid scrutiny of his own deal with the EU ahead of the 31 October deadline.

Indeed, on 24 September, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the prorogation was unlawful and Mr Johnson was sheepishly forced to back down.

Gradually, though, the Prime Minister was able to make some breakthroughs as, remarkably, he returned from Brussels with his own Withdrawal Agreement after months of the EU stating that it would not reopen negotiations.

More remarkably still, Mr Johnson then achieved what Mrs May never came close to doing - and, on 22 October, the Commons voted in favour of a Withdrawal Bill for the first time.

The good news for Mr Johnson did not last long, however. The next vote on the Programme Motion, which set out only a three-day timetable for debate on the Bill, was defeated.

At this stage, a further Brexit extension had basically become an inevitability - but, rather than using the extra time to discuss the Withdrawal Agreement which had been approved in principle, Mr Johnson impertinently took it off the table altogether.

Instead, he focused on getting himself a General Election with which to improve his position in the Commons.

On Monday, Mr Johnson failed for a third time to get an election via the two-thirds majority required under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 brought in under Mr Cameron.

But there was still yet another option. A short Bill notwithstanding the FTPA, originally proposed by the Lib Dems and Scottish National Party, provided Mr Johnson with a workaround which required only a simple majority in the Commons.

Meanwhile, the EU once again extended the Brexit deadline by three months until 31 January 2020.

It meant that, with no-deal back off the table until then, Labour was almost obliged to agree with an election or be accused of running scared.

So, now for a first General Election in December in 96 years - but here is a word of warning from the history books for Mr Johnson.

In that election in 1923, the Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats - but Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and Herbert Asquith's Liberal Party gained enough seats to produce a hung parliament.

Mr MacDonald consequently formed the first ever Labour Government, albeit one that only lasted 10 months.

Bugger Boris

BORIS JOHNSON will become the 76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom tomorrow after he easily beat Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative Party leadership election.

Mr Johnson took 92,153 votes (66.1%) from party members to finish well clear of Mr Hunt who had 46,656 ballots (33.5%) cast for him. There were 509 papers rejected.

But, while this was a clear victory for the former Mayor of London among the Conservatives' rank and file, it also means he was elected into position by just 0.14% of the entire population.

During his campaign, Mr Johnson was largely kept out of trouble by his staffers, and yet he still managed to court controversy by refusing to rule out proroguing Parliament until after the Brexit deadline of 31 October - even if it meant the UK the European Union without a deal.

It was little more than three years ago that Mr Johnson led a Leave campaign which promoted sovereignty and urged Britain to "take back control" - but, now, parliamentary democracy does not seem all that important to him really.

Nevertheless, that inconsistency should have come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Mr Johnson's career closely enough.

Once upon a time, American comedian Groucho Marx joked: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others!"

Frankly, it is a quote which is made for Mr Johnson.

After all, it is now little remembered that - during his time as Mayor of London between 2008 and 2016 - the new Prime Minister was never slow to praise the relationship between the UK capital city and the EU.

Now, of course, it is true that all people, even politicians(!), are entitled to a change in heart - and this is an admittedly cynical view of the situation.

But it seems far more likely in this instance that the wily Mr Johnson recognised the significant political capital which could be gained by opposing his former fellow Old Etonion and then-Prime Minister David Cameron in the EU referendum campaign.

Mr Johnson has never made much of a secret of his ambition to lead the country - and, in 2016, the gamble of his life appeared to have paid off handsomely when a humiliated Mr Cameron resigned in the immediate wake of the referendum.

However, in a month of political mayhem, Mr Johnson's leadership bid failed even to launch as his ally and expected running mate Michael Gove astonishingly announced his own candidacy.

Eventually, Theresa May became PM in unconvincing style - and, less than a year after taking office, she lost her overall majority in the snap General Election which she called in 2017.

For two more years, Mrs May led Britain in ever-decreasing circles, trying repeatedly to force through a compromise deal which ended up being opposed on all sides.

Perhaps things might have been different if Mr Johnson had won the leadership election three years ago. Perhaps Mr Johnson would have called a General Election, won an increased majority, and the first stage of Brexit would have already been completed.

That remains uncertain - especially as the 2017 election coincided with a popularity surge for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, never seen before or since.

If anything, this leadership campaign against Mr Hunt has emphasised some of the weaknesses of Mr Johnson - with his serial avoidance of the issues at hand and his tiresome jokes which appear to appeal only to the slack-jawed and simple-minded.

He was at it again in his victory speech this morning when he declared: "Dude! We are going to energise the country" - but gave no solutions to the main issue of the day or indeed any of the other problems currently facing Britain.

And then - deep sigh - there are the gaffes, of which threatening to prorogue Parliament is only just the latest.

In the past, Mr Johnson has referred to black people in Africa as "piccaninnies" with "watermelon smiles" and gay men as "bumboys".

Meanwhile, in November 2017 in the role of Foreign Secretary, he made a disastrous intervention in the case of a British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who had been detained by the Iranian authorities.

Mr Johnson told a Select Committee that he believed she had been “simply teaching people journalism” - but these remarks put her at risk since a central part of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's defence was that she was there on a holiday visiting family.

Four days after Mr Johnson's comments, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was returned to court in Iran where the then-Foreign Secretary's statement was cited as evidence against her

Rather than gaffes then, these incidents are - at best - misguided or bad errors of judgement. At worst, they are the remarks of a mendacious and discriminatory man who is simply not fit to be Prime Minister.

Regardless of that, Mr Johnson already faces an arithmetical headache with the Parliament which Mrs May has bequeathed him - especially if he attempts to lead Britain towards a No Deal scenario.

Anne Milton - MP for Guildford - resigned from her from her ministerial post just minutes before today's result was announced.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Justice Secretary David Gauke will surely follow, based on what they have previously said - while former leadership candidate Rory Stewart has vowed to lead the charge against a No Deal Brexit from the backbenchers.

The arithmetic could even get worse for Mr Johnson if - as expected - the Conservatives lose their seat in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, held on 1 August.

It is difficult to know what sort of boost, if any, there will be to the Tory campaign following the selection of Mr Johnson.

But it is certainly the case that Britain is now again running out of time, something which was warned against by Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, on 11 April - the date on which the latest extension was granted.

Since then, there have been 104 days - while there are now just exactly 100 days until the Brexit deadline on Hallowe'en.

So far, with over half of the time since the original Brexit date having elapsed, Britain has achieved precisely nothing.

Worse still, Britain now has a loose cannon of a Prime Minister whose reference from his ex-Daily Telegraph boss Max Hastings declared him to be "unfit for national office".

And yet, tomorrow, Mr Johnson will be settling into Number 10 Downing Street where the difficult work will begin.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP CONTEST 2019

	1st (%) 13 June	2nd (%) 18 June	3rd (%) 19 June	4th (%) 20 June	5th (%) 20 June	Members
Boris JOHNSON	114 (36.4)	126 (40.3)	143 (45.7)	157 (50.2)	160 (51.1)	92,153 (66.1)
Jeremy HUNT	43 (13.7)	46 (14.7)	54 (17.3)	59 (18.8)	77 (24.6)	46,656 (33.5)
Michael GOVE	37 (11.8)	41 (13.1)	51 (16.3)	61 (19.5)	75 (24.0)
Sajid JAVID	23 (7.3)	33 (10.5)	38 (12.1)	34 (10.9)
Rory STEWART	19 (6.1)	37 (11.8)	27 (8.6)
Dominic RAAB	27 (8.6)	30 (9.6)
Matt HANCOCK	20 (6.4)	Withdrew
Andrea LEADSOM	11 (3.5)
Mark HARPER	10 (3.2)
Esther MCVEY	9 (2.9)
Spoilt ballots	0	0	0	2	1	509 (0.4)
Turnout	313	313	313	313	313	139,318 (87.4)

Rt Hon BORIS JOHNSON MP Profile
Full name Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964)
Birth place New York City, United States
Education Eton College 
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford
Constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip (since 2015, maj. 5,034); previously Henley (2001-2008)
Public office
▪️2008-2016 Mayor of London
▪️2016-2018 Foreign Secretary

The end of May

THERESA MAY choked back the tears as she announced she would step down as Conservative leader on Friday 7 June having failed to get her Brexit deal through Parliament.

In an emotional statement outside of 10 Downing Street, Mrs May said she had done her best to deliver Britain's exit from the European Union, and it was a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to achieve this.

Meanwhile, Mrs May said she would continue to serve as Prime Minister while a Tory leadership contest took place with the result of that squabble expected by July.

And, undoubtedly, it will be quite the dogfight. Already, no fewer than nine MPs - Michael Gove, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey, Dominic Raab, Rory Stewart, and bookmakers' favourite Boris Johnson - have declared their candidature.

But whoever wins the contest will take charge of a party which is currently on its knees after the successive premierships of David Cameron and Mrs May.

Hard on the back of their worst local election results since 1995, the Conservatives finished down in fifth place on just 8.8% in European elections in which Britain was not even meant to take part.

Originally, of course, Brexit Day was meant to be on 29 March - almost two months ago now.

But, following nearly three years of delays amid continual infighting and general incompetence, the departure date was put back, first by a fortnight, to 12 April.

Then, perhaps appropriately given the complete political horror show which has happened so far, it was delayed until Hallowe'en, no less.

Now, every good horror movie needs a snivelling villain, and so it has been no surprise to see Nigel Farage return to the forefront of matters on the back of his new vanity project, namely the Brexit Party.

Admittedly, with the ballots counted, the Brexit Party did rather well on Thursday, winning a third of the vote and 28 of the 73 seats.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, Remain supporters deserted Labour and elevated the ardently pro-EU Liberal Democrats into second place.

Labour had to settle for third place while the Green Party took fourth ahead of the Conservatives who suffered their worst electoral result since the Great Reform Act in 1832.

Now, there seems little doubt that Mr Farage’s success campaigning in favour of a no-deal Brexit will push the Tory leadership candidates into hardline positions on leaving the EU.

Already, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Hunt has warned that the Conservatives were facing an “existential threat”, while Mr Johnson said it was a “crushing rebuke” to the government’s failure to take the UK out of the EU.

At this point then, it is probably worth reflecting on how exactly we got here...

Well, even if the result of the referendum held on 23 June 2016 is still accepted - which, among large swathes of the population, it is not - the whole thing has been a sorry mess since the outcome was announced.

Mr Cameron - the Prime Minister who instigated the vote and then backed the losing side - resigned immediately, prompting a Conservative leadership election in which prominent Brexiteer Mr Johnson ultimately did not stand.

Instead, Maidenhead MP Mrs May - a Remainer during the referendum campaign - eventually emerged from an unconvincing pack and soon invoked Article 50.

That set a two-year ticking countdown on Britain's departure from the EU - and yet, shortly afterwards, Mrs May called an early General Election.

It was perhaps the worst thing she could have done.

For, although the Conservatives remained the largest party in the House of Commons after the election, they lost their majority and Mrs May was forced into a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

This was far from the "strong and stable" position which Mrs May had envisaged when she called the election.

Regardless of that setback, the formal negotiations with the EU began in earnest - but, in an ominous sign of things to come, the Northern Irish hardline DUP rejected a draft agreement set up in December 2017.

Still, negotiations continued and, on 26 June 2018, the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament called the European Union (Withdrawal) Act.

On the back of this, Mrs May attempted to shore up support among her more sceptical Cabinet ministers during a weekend at Chequers.

At first, the talks appeared to have gone down reasonably well - but stark divisions soon became apparent and, within days, Brexit Secretary David Davis and Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, had both resigned among others.

Dominic Raab replaced the former - but within months, he had also resigned - and, although Stephen Barclay was named as his replacement, the deal from then on became personalised to Mrs May herself.

In December, the Prime Minister admitted she knew she did not have a majority to get her deal through the Commons and her weak position prompted a vote of confidence in her among Conservative MPs.

Mrs May survived the vote which nominally meant she could not be challenged to another internal confidence vote within 12 months.

However, the pressure on the PM immediately returned in the New Year when she finally put her deal before Parliament.

The size of the defeat - 230 votes - was the biggest ever government reverse in history with the Bill attracting derision from both Leave and Remain supporters.

It was exactly the sort of compromise where everybody would get what nobody wanted - and, as such, it was no surprise to see the deal roundly defeated for a second time when it was put before the Commons again by Mrs May on 12 March.

By then, there were only 17 days left before Britain was due to leave - and the tactical decision by Mrs May to run the clock down in a bid to spook MPs into backing her deal had clearly failed.

Instead, in an unprecedented move, the Commons voted by a majority of 27 to take control of business in Parliament so that they could hold a series of indicative votes as a directive towards breaking the impasse.

But it was never going to be that simple - and, having rejected Mrs May's deal twice, none of the eight alternative options tabled was able to command a Commons majority either.

Of course, even if that had not been the case, it still probably would not have actually provided a solution.

The indicative votes were not in any way legally binding in the same manner that Mrs May's unsatisfactory agreement was - and, for its part, the EU made it clear that it was in no mood to reopen negotiations.

Indeed, the only thing on which the EU appeared willing to budge was the Brexit deadline - and, even on this matter, only slightly.

For, following her second heavy defeat in the Commons, Mrs May had travelled to Brussels requesting an extension to get her deal approved by Parliament until 30 June.

But, instead, the EU merely granted an extension until 22 May, or - more likely - 12 April which was meant to be the effective date if the deal was still not approved.

It was at this point that the already protracted Commons theatrics took on an additional layer of farce as Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow threw an extra spanner in the works.

Mr Bercow cited a convention dating back to 1604 that a defeated motion could not be brought back in the same form during the course of a parliamentary session.

As it happened, Mrs May managed to present a substantively different proposal by removing the more controversial Political Declaration element which covered the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

But, on the day which Britain was meant to leave the EU, MPs again rejected the Withdrawal Agreement, on that occasion by a majority of 58.

The deal, as it stood, was effectively dead in the water - and the PM had finally been forced to turn to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for talks while the EU granted a further extension.

Mr Corbyn, though, was less than impressed that it had taken this long for him to be consulted on a matter of such national importance and so refused to move on his own red lines.

Talks with Labour duly broke down at the back end of the week before last and Mrs May was now cornered with nowhere else to go for support.

Of course, merely the mention of the Prime Minister talking with the Leader of the Opposition had been enough to condemn her in the eyes of some Conservatives - and, from then on, it became a matter of days before her resignation announcement would come.

"Please do not waste this time!" said Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, after the extension until 31 October had been granted.

But, with a Tory leadership election now set to take place followed by an eight-week summer recess, it is certainly not a message which has been heeded.

The no-deal cliff-edge once again draws ever closer - there are just 157 days to go until Hallowe'en.

⭐2019 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS⭐

⭐ NATIONAL SCOREBOARD

	Vote		Seats
Brexit	31.6%	(+31.6%)	29	(+29)
Liberal Democrats	20.3%	(+13.4%)	16	(+15)
Labour	14.1%	(-11.3%)	10	(-10)
Green	12.1%	(+4.2%)	7	(+4)
Conservatives	9.1%	(-14.8%)	4	(-15)
SNP	3.6%	(+1.1%)	3	(+1)
Change UK	3.4%	(+3.4%)	0	-
UKIP	3.3%	(-24.2%)	0	(-24)
Plaid Cymru	1.0%	(+0.3%)	1	-

Note Northern Ireland has yet to declare

⭐ REGIONS

	NE		NW		Yorks		W Mids		E Mids
Brexit	38.7%	2 (+2)	31.2%	3 (+3)	36.5%	3 (+3)	37.7%	3 (+3)	38.2%	3 (+3)
Lib Dems	16.8%	-	17.2%	2 (+2)	15.5%	1 (+1)	16.3%	1 (+1)	17.2%	1 (+1)
Labour	19.4%	1 (-1)	21.9%	2 (-1)	16.3%	1 (-1)	16.9%	1 (-1)	13.9%	1 (-)
Green	8.1%	-	12.5%	1 (+1)	12.9%	1 (+1)	10.7%	1 (+1)	10.7%	-
Conservatives	6.8%	-	7.6%	- (-2)	7.2%	- (-1)	10.0%	1 (-1)	10.5%	- (-2)
UKIP	6.2%	- (-1)	3.6%	- (-3)	4.4%	- (-3)	4.9%	- (-3)	4.9%	- (-2)

	London		SE		SW		East		Wales
Brexit	17.9%	2 (+2)	36.1%	4 (+4)	36.7%	3 (+3)	37.8%	3 (+3)	31.3%					2 (+2)
Lib Dems	27.2%	3 (+3)	25.8%	3 (+2)	23.1%	2 (+2)	22.6%	2 (+2)	13.2%					-
Labour	23.9%	2 (-2)	7.3%	1 (-)	6.5%	- (-1)	8.7%	- (-1)	14.8%					1 (-)
Green	12.5%	1 (-)	13.5%	1 (-)	18.1%	1 (-)	12.7%	1 (+1)	6.1%					-
Conservatives	7.9%	- (-2)	10.3%	1 (-2)	8.7%	- (-2)	10.3%	1 (-2)	6.3%					-
UKIP	2.1%	- (-1)	2.2%	- (-4)	3.2%	- (-2)	3.4%	- (-3)	3.2%					-
Plaid Cymru									22.4%					1 (-)

	Scotland
Brexit	14.8%	1 (+1)
Lib Dems	13.9%	1 (+1)
Labour	9.3%	- (-2)
Green	8.3%	-
Conservatives	11.6%	1 (-)
UKIP	1.8%	- (-1)
SNP	37.8%	3 (+1)

Note Northern Ireland has yet to declare

⭐BREXIT: A TIMELINE⭐

⭐24 January 2013 Report
Then-Prime Minister David Cameron promised that, if the Conservatives won a majority at the 2015 General Election, the Government would hold a referendum on whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union (EU) following a series of renegotiations.

⭐30 March 2015
A General Election was called following the dissolution of the Parliament under the provisions of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011.

⭐7 May 2015 Report
The General Election was held. David Cameron defied expectations of a Hung Parliament and led the Conservatives to their first outright majority since 1997.

⭐19 February 2016
David Cameron announced the outcome of the renegotiations. The renegotiated terms were in addition to existing opt-outs in the EU as well as the UK rebate - but critics argued there would be no fundamental change to the EU-UK relationship.

⭐20-21 February 2016 Report
David Cameron effectively fired the starting pistol on an in-out referendum by announcing it would be held on 23 June 2016. On the following morning, his long-time rival - the then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson - confirmed he would be backing the Vote Leave campaign

⭐23-24 June 2016
Britain voted 52-48 in favour of leaving the European Union (Brexit). David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister on the following morning, triggering a Conservative leadership election.

⭐30 June 2016
Then-Justice Secretary Michael Gove confirmed his bid to become party leader, prompting Boris Johnson, the bookmakers' favourite, to announce he would not enter the leadership contest.

⭐13 July 2016 Report
Theresa May formally became Prime Minister having beaten Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove in the Conservative leadership contest. On the same day, George Osborne was sacked as Chancellor of Exchequer in a reshuffle, and replaced by Philip Hammond.

⭐3 November 2016
The Supreme Court ruled in the favour of Gina Miller who had campaigned for Brexit to be approved through Parliament.

⭐17 January 2017
Theresa May announced that Brexit would be subject to a "meaningful vote" in both Houses of Parliament.

⭐29 March 2017
Article 50 was formally invoked, starting a two-year countdown until Britain severs ties with the EU.

⭐18 April 2017
Theresa May - comfortably ahead in the polls - called a "snap" General Election.

⭐8 June 2017 Report
The General Election was held. The result showed the Conservatives remained the largest party but that they had lost their majority due to a Labour resurgence under Jeremy Corbyn.

⭐9 June 2017
Theresa May vowed to continue as PM and struck a confidence-and-supply deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.

⭐13 July 2017
David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, introduced a bill in the House of Commons which ensured Britain's withdrawal from the EU would be subject to a "meaningful vote".

⭐July 2017-November 2017
Negotiation phase 1: A series of talks in Brussels (17-20 July, 28-31 August, 7 September, 25 September, 9-12 October, 9-10 November) over Britain's withdrawal from the EU were held.

⭐4 December 2017
A draft agreement was expected to be finalised at a meeting between EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Theresa May. However, the meeting was abandoned after the DUP objected to arrangements for the Irish border

⭐December 2017-March 2018
Negotiation phase 2: transitional arrangements included an Irish backstop which was agreed in principle by Theresa May and EU chief negotiator Michael Barnier. The backstop potentially tied Northern Ireland to EU trade laws beyond Brexit.

⭐26 June 2018
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament called the European Union (Withdrawal) Act.

⭐6 July 2018
Theresa May summoned her Cabinet to Chequers to shore up support for her Brexit agreement.

⭐8-9 July 2018
Brexit Secretary David Davis tendered his resignation, stating the deal - as it stood - was too soft. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also stepped down as he considered the deal had the potential to turn Britain "into a European colony". Dominic Raab was appointed as Brexit Secretary in a reshuffle.

⭐July-November 2018
Negotiation phase 3: Britain continued its negotiations with the EU.

⭐15 November 2018
Dominic Raab resigned as Brexit Secretary, saying he “cannot in good conscience” support the deal agreed by the Cabinet. He was joined by a spate of others including Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.

⭐16 November 2018
Stephen Barclay became the third Brexit Secretary of the year.

⭐4 December 2018
The Government lost three votes in the Commons and was found in contempt of Parliament. Consequently, the Government was forced to publish its full legal advice on Brexit.

⭐10 December 2018
Theresa May was forced to call off the "meaningful vote" in Parliament, admitting that she knew she had no chance of getting a majority for her deal in the Commons.

⭐12 December 2018 Report
At least 48 Tory MPs' letters were sent into Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers. A vote of no confidence was called in Theresa May which she won with a majority of 83 (200-117).

⭐15 January 2019
MPs rejected Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU by a record margin of 230 votes (432-202), prompting a motion of no confidence from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

⭐16 January 2019
The Government of Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence with a majority of 19 (325-306) as MPs, for the most part, voted along party lines.

⭐28-29 January 2019
Theresa May returned to Brussels to renegotiate her Brexit deal after MPs voted by 317 to 301 for an amendment which called for scrapping the prior agreement’s Irish backstop in favour of yet-to-be defined “alternative arrangements”. The Brady amendment, tabled by 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, was supported by the Prime Minister herself.

⭐18-20 February 2019
A total of 11 pro-Remain MPs - eight from Labour and three from the Conservatives - splintered from their respective parties in protest at their leaders' approaches to Brexit.

⭐25 February 2019
For the first time, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn made a statement in which he publicly backed holding a second referendum on Britain's membership of the EU if Labour fails to get its own version of a Brexit deal passed.

⭐11-12 March 2019
Theresa May returned from further talks with the EU in Strasbourg. However, the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox advised that the deal, as it stood, still carried a "legal risk" that the UK would have no way out of the Irish backstop without EU agreement. Subsequently, MPs once again rejected Theresa May's deal by a still significant margin of 149 votes (391-242).

⭐13 March 2019
MPs rejected any type of no-deal Brexit at any time by a majority of 43 (321-278). Earlier, MPs had backed an amendment to this main motion by just four votes (312-308) which changed the wording of the main motion from them rejecting the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 29 March 2019 to them rejecting the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without any type of deal at any time. The votes were not legally binding, however, and therefore no-deal remained the default outcome.

⭐21 March 2019
Theresa May requested a delay of the Brexit deadline until 30 June. However, the EU was only willing to grant an extension until 22 May, or 12 April if Mrs May's deal was not approved by the UK Parliament.

⭐26 March 2019
Theresa May conceded there was still not enough support in Parliament to get her own deal through the Commons. Later, MPs voted by a majority of 27 (329-302) for the Letwin Amendment which allowed them to take control of business in Parliament in order for them to hold a series of indicative votes.

⭐27 March 2019
Indicative votes were held in the House of Commons but none of the eight options was carried with a majority. Meanwhile, Theresa May told a group of Conservative MPs in a meeting of the 1922 Committee that she would resign before the next stage of the Brexit process if she was able to get her deal through Parliament.

⭐29 March 2019
On the day which Britain was meant to leave the EU, MPs again rejected Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement, on that occasion by a majority of 58 (344-286).

⭐3-5 April 2019
Talks between Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn began as the main party leaders attempted to find a solution which would break the Brexit deadlock. In the meantime, Theresa May wrote to EU Council president Donald Tusk "reluctantly" asking for another extension to Article 50.

⭐11 April 2019
European Union leaders granted the UK a six-month extension to Brexit until 31 October, after late-night talks in Brussels. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn continued to hold discussions.

⭐14 May 2019
Theresa May proposed to bring the Withdrawal Agreement to the House of Commons in the first week on June in order for a fourth vote to be held on it.

⭐17 May 2019
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn blamed each other as talks between them collapsed with nothing having been decided.

⭐22-23 May 2019
Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom became the 36th minister to resign from Theresa May's Government stating that she no longer believed the Government's approach would deliver Brexit. In the meantime, May shelved plans to publish Withdrawal Agreement bill amid growing Cabinet backlash against it.

⭐24 May 2019
Theresa May announced she would step down as Conservative leader on Friday 7 June though stay on as Prime Minister in a caretaker capacity while her successor is chosen.

⭐26 May 2019
Voters in the 2019 European elections split along Leave and Remain lines as the Conservatives and Labour suffered respectively against surges by the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Conservatives take a kicking in local elections

SCOREBOARD	Councils	+/-	Seats	+/-	PNS%
Labour	60	-6	2023	-82	28% (-1%)
Conservative	93	-44	3562	-1334	28% (-7%)
Liberal Democrats	18	+10	1350	+703	19% (+8%)
Green	-	-	265	+194
UKIP	-	-	31	-145
Others including	4	+3	1179	+662
Independent	2	+2	1045	+606
Residents' Association	2	+1	119	+49
No Overall Control	73	+37	-	-

Turnout 36.3%  ▪️  PNS% Projected national share  ▪️  Changes (+/-) compared with 2015

PRIME MINISTER Theresa May vowed to "get on and deliver Brexit" as Conservatives across England attempted to come to terms with heavy losses in the local elections.

With all 248 authorities now accounted for, the Tories are confirmed to have lost a massive 1,334 seats and ceded control in a net total of no fewer than 45 councils.

It is the Conservatives' worst result in local elections since 1995 when John Major's divided governing party was hammered by Tony Blair's New Labour.

Unsurprisingly, the appalling results have caused some dismay among the Conservatives rank and file.

Mrs May was heckled as she delivered a speech to the Welsh Conservative conference in Llangollen, with a former councillor shouting: “Why don’t you resign? We don’t want you.”

Nevertheless, the Prime Minister has suffered far darker days in her premiership than this one.

For, while Labour did not sustain anywhere near the same level of losses as the Tories, it would be fair to say it did not have a particularly good night either.

In all, Jeremy Corbyn's party lost 63 seats across the country - and also lost its majority on 11 councils while gaining only five.

Instead, the main beneficiaries were the resurgent Liberal Democrats who enjoyed easily their best result in local elections since 2004.

Otherwise, it was a far better night than usual to stand as an independent, something which was amply demonstrated in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, where the group of independents won 30 out of the 35 seats.

Undoubtedly, the result of the night, though, went to the Lib Dems in Bath and North East Somerset, where they gained 23 seats as the Conservatives lost 24.

As such, the Lib Dems overturned a comfortable Tory majority in an area in which ardent Brexit supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg is the MP.

Of course, this election was held in perhaps the most favourable circumstances for Vince Cable's Lib Dems for many years.

The two main parties appear to be in disarray about the main political issue of the day whereas the Lib Dems, in fairness, have been rewarded for their straight-forward pro-Remain positioning on Brexit.

Attention now switches to the European elections on 23 May, a rather bizarre visit to the polling booth which will come over a thousand days since the UK voted to leave the European Union.

But, unlike in the elections held this week, two brand-spanking new parties will both stand a slate of candidates in each of the 12 regions.

The awkwardly-named Change UK – The Independent Group will fish for votes in the same Remain-supporting waters as the Lib Dems who can therefore expect their support to become significantly diluted. 

However, that does not mean things are due to get any easier for either the Conservatives or Labour as the other newly-registered party is Nigel Farage's latest vehicle - the Brexit Party.

The Brexit Party decided not to stand candidates in the local elections and that left Leave supporters in many areas with nowhere to go.

UKIP is truly a shadow of its former self - it stood candidates in just one in six wards, and even then its sharp decline was neatly demonstrated by a net loss of 36 seats.

Instead, it has emerged on Twitter that - given the paucity of options available to them - some pro-Brexit voters simply spoiled their ballot papers.

On 23 May, though, there will be a Brexit Party candidate against which Leave voters can mark a cross.

Indeed, the latest polling from Yougov shows the Brexit Party hitting 30% and stretching their lead to nine points over Labour, with the Conservatives trailing badly on just 13%.

For sure, it already looks like being another bad night for Mrs May.

ENGLISH LOCAL ELECTIONS

THE FULL RESULTS

METROPOLITAN BOROUGHS
Third of council

Barnsley	Bolton	Bradford	Bury	Calderdale	Coventry
Dudley	Gateshead	Kirklees	Knowsley	Leeds	Liverpool
Manchester	Newcastle upon Tyne	North Tyneside	Oldham	Rochdale	Salford
Sandwell	Sefton	Sheffield	Solihull	South Tyneside	St Helens
Stockport	Sunderland	Tameside	Trafford	Wakefield	Walsall
Wigan	Wirral	Wolverhampton

UNITARY AUTHORITIES
Whole council, unless marked with (+) which denotes a third of the council up for election 

Bath and NE Somerset	Bedford	Blackburn with Darwen (+)
Blackpool	Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole	Bracknell Forest
Brighton and Hove	Central Bedfordshire	Cheshire East
Cheshire West and Chester	Darlington	Derby (+)
Dorset	East Riding of Yorkshire	Halton (+)
Hartlepool (+)	Herefordshire	Hull (+)
Leicester	Luton	Medway
Middlesbrough	Milton Keynes (+)	North East Lincolnshire (+)
North Lincolnshire	North Somerset	Nottingham
Peterborough (+)	Plymouth (+)	Portsmouth (+)
Reading (+)	Redcar and Cleveland	Rutland
Slough (+)	Southampton (+)	Southend-on-Sea (+)
South Gloucestershire	Stockton-on-Tees	Stoke-on-Trent
Swindon (+)	Telford & Wrekin	Thurrock (+)
Torbay	West Berkshire	Windsor & Maidenhead
Wokingham (+)	York

NON-METROPOLITAN DISTRICTS

Whole council
Allerdale	Arun	Ashfield	Ashford
Babergh	Barrow-in-Furness	Bassetlaw	Blaby
Bolsover	Boston	Braintree	Breckland
Broadland	Bromsgrove	Broxtowe	Canterbury
Carlisle	Charnwood	Chelmsford	Chesterfield
Chichester	Copeland	Cotswold	Crawley
Dacorum	Dartford	Derbyshire Dales	Dover
Eastbourne	East Cambridgeshire	East Devon	East Hampshire
East Hertfordshire	East Lindsey	East Staffordshire	East Suffolk
Eden	Epsom and Ewell	Erewash	Fenland
Folkstone & Hythe	Forest of Dean	Fylde	Gedling
Gravesham	Great Yarmouth	Guildford	Hambleton
Harborough	Hertsmere	High Peak	Hinckley and Bosworth
Horsham	King's Lynn & W Norfolk	Lancaster	Lewes
Lichfield	Maldon	Malvern Hills	Mansfield
Melton	Mendip	Mid Devon	Mid Suffolk
Mid Sussex	New Forest	Newark and Sherwood	North Devon
NE Derbyshire	North Kesteven	North Norfolk	North Warwickshire
NW Leicestershire	Norwich	Oadby and Wigston	Preston
Reigate and Banstead	Ribble Valley	Richmondshire	Rother
Runnymede	Rushcliffe	Ryedale	Scarborough
Sedgemoor	Selby	Sevenoaks	Somerset W & Taunton
South Derbyshire	South Hams	South Holland	South Kesteven
South Norfolk	South Oxfordshire	South Ribble	South Somerset
South Staffordshire	Spelthorne	Stafford	Staffordshire Moorlands
Stratford-on-Avon	Surrey Heath	Swale	Teignbridge
Tendring	Test Valley	Tewkesbury	Thanet
Tonbridge and Malling	Torridge	Uttlesford	Vale of the White Horse
Warwick	Waverley	Wealden	West Devon
West Lindsey	West Suffolk	Wychavon	Wyre
Wyre Forest
Third of council
Amber Valley	Basildon	Basingstoke and Deane	Brentwood
Broxbourne	Burnley	Cambridge	Cannock Chase
Castle Point	Cherwell	Chorley	Colchester
Craven	Eastleigh	Elmbridge	Epping Forest
Exeter	Harlow	Hart	Havant
Hyndburn	Ipswich	Lincoln	Maidstone
Mole Valley	North Hertfordshire	Pendle	Redditch
Rochford	Rossendale	Rugby	Rushmoor
St Albans	South Lakeland	Stevenage	Tamworth
Tandridge	Three Rivers	Tunbridge Wells	Watford
Welwyn Hatfield	West Lancashire	West Oxfordshire	Winchester
Woking	Worcester	Worthing

MAYORAL ELECTIONS

Bedford

Copeland

Leicester

Mansfield

Middlesbrough

North of Tyne

Bolded areas indicate change of control