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Political Polar Opposites Win in Elections, Forcing U.K. Parties to Brexit Extremes

Both the governing Tories and the Labour opposition suffered at the hands of hard-line pro- and anti-Brexit forces.

Political Polar Opposites Win in Elections, Forcing U.K. Parties to Brexit Extremes
Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, gives a thumbs up as he leaves Millbank Studios in London, U.K. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A catastrophic night of European election results left leading politicians in both Britain’s main parties grasping for answers and under pressure to embrace the extreme ends of the Brexit spectrum.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn grudgingly promised to support a referendum on any Brexit deal, after his party sank to just 14% of the vote. Meanwhile, leading Conservatives competing to replace Theresa May said their party’s near wipe-out in the poll showed angry voters wanted them to get on and quit the bloc.

Political Polar Opposites Win in Elections, Forcing U.K. Parties to Brexit Extremes

Both the governing Tories and the Labour opposition suffered at the hands of hard-line pro- and anti-Brexit forces in the elections, in which 17.2 million people voted. The pound fell as traders interpreted the result as increasing the chances of a messy no-deal split.

The night’s biggest winner was Nigel Farage, whose Brexit Party aims to take the U.K. out of the EU without waiting to negotiate a deal. On the other side of the divide, the pro-EU Liberal Democrats were second in the national vote. The implications for the future of British politics alarmed the two major parties.

Read More: No-Deal Brexit Keeps Getting More Likely. So Is Pound Weakness

“Both the Conservatives and Labour have been on notice that they need to handle the issue much better than they have done so far,” John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, wrote in an article for the BBC. “Otherwise, voters might yet turn elsewhere at the next general election too.”

Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29 but May’s failure to get the deal she negotiated with the bloc ratified in Parliament has forced the U.K. to delay exit day until Oct. 31. Euroskeptic voters have run out of patience and punished the ruling Tories for their inability to deliver on the 2016 referendum decision to leave the EU.

"We must leave the EU on Oct. 31 with a clean break, nothing else will wash now," Esther McVey, a leadership candidate, said in a statement. “People saying we need a Brexit policy to bring people together are misreading the situation. That is clearly not possible. We need to deliver on the referendum result with a clean break and then we bring people together."

Deliver Brexit

The Conservatives won just just 9% of the vote while Farage’s Brexit Party was in first place, with 32% of the vote across the country.

“Never before in British politics has a new party launched just six weeks ago topped the polls in a national election,” Farage said, after he was re-elected an MEP. “The reason of course is very obvious: We voted to leave in a referendum, we were supposed to do so on March 29 -- and we haven’t.”

Labour, which is split about what to do, was third on 14%. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats were in second place on 20%, while the anti-Brexit Greens were on 12%.

May resigned on Friday and a contest will open next week to choose a new Conservative leader and prime minister. "We need to restore trust, bring unity and create new opportunities across the U.K.,” said Home Secretary Sajid Javid as he announced he will stand for the leadership. "First and foremost, we must deliver Brexit."

His rival candidates agreed. Andrea Leadsom said it was "vital" we "now find a way to decisively leave the EU," while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned the Tories face an "existential" threat. The favorite Boris Johnson said: "The message from last night’s results is clear. It is time for us to deliver Brexit and set out our positive plans for the country."

The Labour Party faces similar turmoil trying to grapple with its own Brexit divisions. Corbyn said his priority was still for a general election but he insisted he agreed with his finance spokesman John McDonnell that “any final deal has to be put to a public vote.”

McDonnell later went even further, arguing that another referendum is now the only way to avoid an economically damaging no-deal Brexit. "We’re faced with the prospect of no-deal," he said. "We’ve got to prevent that."

To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net;Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas

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