May has now said to be forming the U.K. government with support from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists.
After the U.K. election was concluded with a “hung parliament”, political parties are now looking for ways to negotiate a coalition to form the new government.
Teresa May said that after winning the majority of the seats, “only her party had the legitimacy to govern.” She will now work alongside the DUP to take forward Brexit.
The Conservative party were only eight seats short of winning by majority, which is 326 seats.
With crucial Brexit talks just 10 days away, May is now working on how the new government will work with the DUP, whom she is said to already have a strong relationship with.
Jeremy Corbyn, after the result, has urged the Prime Minister to quit, and has said Labour would now be looking to form a minority government of its own, after exceeding expectations by achieving 29 seats in England, Wales and Scotland.
What does that mean for Brexit?
Now, with the uncertainty of the formation of the government, what does this mean for Brexit?
Depending on the parties who succeed making a coalition, we could have a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, or what they call a “cliff edge” Brexit, where the U.K. just “falls” out of the EU.
Brussels has now had 12 months to plan for Brexit, with the European Parliament and European Commission, and are now waiting upon Britain to begin the talks on the 19th of June of their EU departure.
The DUP are said to want a “soft” Brexit, and along with the Tories, they will be organising a workable plan to leave the European Union, and now, more than ever, respecting the specific circumstances of Northern Ireland, and their shared history and geography with the Republic of Ireland.
The DUP are not in favour of hard borders, or a hard Brexit, due to its links with the Republic of Ireland, and therefore may influence soft borders in the rest of the EU. This could be convenient for Britain, in terms of its overseas territories, like Gibraltar.
With pressure from the rest of the EU, after Britain has officially formed its government, it only has less than two years to organise its “divorce” from the EU.
But until the British government is officially formed, Brexit plans will be put on hold, and are said to resume after the next five days, when the new parliament will meet for the first time on the 13th of June.