News|Politics

‘In shock’: Social media reacts to UK election

Celebration, disappointment and jokes run through British social media as latest projections show a hung parliament.

UK election: Corbyn and May
The Conservative Party has failed to secure an absolute majority in parliament [Neil Hall/Reuters]
Published On 9 Jun 2017

“Shock” ran through British social media on Thursday and Friday as polling showed major gains for the main opposition Labour Party.

After the ruling Conservative Party failed to win an absolute majority, Britain will now be run by a hung parliament.

With votes from nearly all 650 constituencies counted, by the time of publishing, the Conservative Party, led by Theresa May, had won 314 seats, failing to secure the required 326 seats.

The Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, won 261 seats.

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After the first exit poll was announced, a prediction that is largely accepted as fairly accurate, many expressed disbelief and excitement at what appeared to be big Labour gains:

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That same sentiment continued throughout the night and into the morning:

Conservative Party supporters, however, said early on that the election is not over until it is “actually over”:

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But the internet does not forget and as soon as initial exit polling was announced, many pointed to a tweet from May last month:

This prompted some to resurface this joke, which also made the rounds before the vote:

Social media users also remembered that May recently said the “naughtiest” thing she had ever done is “run through the fields of wheat”:

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On Google, many were wondered “What if…”: 

In the event of a hung parliament – where no party wins enough seats to have a majority in the House of Commons – the two major parties, Conservatives and Labour, will try and form a coalition government with one of the smaller parties.

Gary Lineker, a former football star and television personality, poked fun at May:

This poll aggregator was, like many, surprised. Most polls predicted a Tory victory, though many said that Labour would make inroads.

The young vote was important this year:

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JME, a British grime music artist, had been campaigning for young people to get out and vote. This was one of his many tweets before polls closed to encourage people to cast their ballots:

Many online, like Corbyn, called for May to resign: 

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And if there is a resignation, some predicted what might be in store:

https://twitter.com/OsipMikhailov/status/873044660528136192

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies

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