May's Self-Confidence in Calling Snap Election May Backfire

LONDON (Sputnik) — UK Prime Minister Theresa May's self-confidence that she demonstrated in calling a snap general election may backfire and undermine voters' support to her, Shahrar Ali, the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) spokesman for home affairs and former deputy leader, told Sputnik on Monday.

May called snap election at the time of the Conservative party's high popularity, hoping to increase majority in the parliament, where they currently hold 330 seats.

"Given that she gave reassurances no less than six times after becoming a prime minister that there will be no general election until 2020, it's quite a shocking U-turn for her to do that. It does diminish trust in politicians. The obvious reason that she thought of calling a snap election was because she thought she would be better off with a larger majority. She is kind of admitting that. But the motivation that was given was to help her with Brexit negotiations. This can all backfire," Ali said.

The GPEW former deputy leader explained there was a lot of calculation involved in May's decision to call snap election, which she explained by the necessity to have a united parliament as the country was facing the beginning of Brexit negotiations and then the departure itself, scheduled for 2019.

"There is much calculation in it [calling snap election]. She could have continued until 2020 and then tried to negotiate [Brexit] with other parties as necessary. I regarded the change of mind as something suspicious," Ali noted.

According to the Green Party politician, the election might result in a parliament without majority.

"The hung parliament scenario is not improbable. It's certainly far more likely than when May started the campaign… [Labour leader Jeremy] Corbyn's style is resonating with people. And he has performed well in the leadership debates. I do feel he is improving popularity. If May narrows the majority, it would do the very thing that she claimed she was trying to avoid in terms of Brexit negotiations, which is not being able to proceed without any obstacle," Ali pointed out.

The latest ICM poll for The Guardian newspaper shows Conservatives as likely to win 45 percent of the votes, while Labour may get 34 percent, which is one percentage point gained for the latter, compared to the May 30 poll. A poll released on May 8 suggested that the Conservatives would get 49 percent of the votes, while Labour might have 27 percent.

The people in the United Kingdom will go to polls on Thursday.