UK 2017 General Election Results: Surprise for Prime Minister Theresa May

June 10, 2017

Kaitlyn Smethurst

Author

Sovos

This blog was last updated on June 27, 2021

On Thursday, June 8, 2017, the United Kingdom held its general election for Parliamentary seats, and the election concluded with shocking results, leaving the U.K. with no overall majority in the House of Commons. The report of the results was a disappointment for Prime Minister Theresa May, who was hoping to increase her Conservative Party’s majority, in order to continue with her Brexit negotiations as planned. Instead, the election concluded with the Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, gaining 29 seats for a total of 261.

The Conservative Party now holds 318 seats, losing 12 seats and the narrow majority the party had in the House of Commons. The election results will significantly impact the Prime Minister’s Brexit plans, as she will now be required to work with another political group to gain a majority vote for any Brexit legislation. With negotiations for Brexit scheduled to continue on June 19th, Prime Minister May has announced her intent to work with the Democratic Unionist Party to secure the political backing necessary to regain an overall majority.

Kaitlyn Smethurst

Katie Smethurst is a Regulatory Counsel at Sovos. Within Sovos' Regulatory Analysis function, Katie focuses on global sales tax and VAT issues, supporting both the tax determination and reporting engines. Katie received her B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Roger Williams University and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. She is a member of the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Bars.

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