‘Change UK’: the anti Brexit party

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In the midst of tensions over Brexit, a new party has been created that hopes to hold the referendum against the departure of the United Kingdom

If everything had gone as stipulated, the United Kingdom would have left the European Union on March 29. But almost a month later, the negotiations to reach an agreement on the new date are still ongoing and the image of Theresa May is getting worse every day. Several members of the opposition party are calling for the imminent departure of the prime minister, who has given everything to fulfill his promise to leave the European Union.

Leer en español: 'Change UK': el partido anti Brexit

As El Comercio affirms, "many conservative supporters of Brexit believe that May should be replaced by a stronger leader towards Brexit, such as former Secretary of State Boris Johnson". However, after overcoming the motion of censure that was attempted in December, the Conservatives have no option to change their leader, so May would remain in office until the new elections; the foregoing taking into account her announcement of not participating in re-election.

In this way, after the Easter recess, the British Parliament continued its activities trying to reach an agreement on the final date of the exit, after it was rejected three times. Now, Theresa May aims for the new date to be before the voting for the European Parliament, which will begin next May 23. Thus, the country would not be obliged to participate in them and would avoid "legal challenges to the work of the institution (European Parliament)", as stated by the Republic.

In the middle of the chaos, on April 11, after a six-hour debate, the European Union approved extending the date of departure from the United Kingdom until October 31, 2019, adding that the British could leave the organization before getting any agreement. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, affirmed that "this extension is as flexible as expected, and a little shorter than what he would have liked, but it is still enough to find the best possible solution", in statements collected by Proceso México.

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The 'anti-Brexit' already has a party

With the situation so tangled, 7 independent deputies (now 11) resigned both the Labor party and conservative and decided to join to create a new party. Change UK – The Independent Group started since February, under the premise of being able to hold a referendum so that the British can vote again on the decision to leave the United Kingdom or not.

In this way, Heidi Allen, interim leader and who belonged to the Conservative party, told in a press conference that Change UK was created on the premise "that their respective parties had moved away from the center of British politics, and therefore, there was no other option but to say 'enough is enough' ". In addition to adding that the independent deputies "we had the responsibility to act and give the country a better option" and for that reason, it made an invitation to those Britons who "agree that our policy is broken, be part of this party, get involved and let's make a change together. "

Only last week, the Electoral Council endorsed the party to participate in the candidacies of the European elections. If a new date is not agreed before the elections, Change UK would be part of them. It seems that support is not a problem, since, as Allen stated, around 3,700 people responded to the call to stand as candidates for the elections, of which 70 candidates were elected among "journalists, experienced politicians disillusioned with their parties, and people completely new to politics, "as The Guardian puts it.

For the party, "the elections are an option to send a clear message: we demand the vote of the people and a campaign to remain in the European Union."

However, how many possibilities do you have to comply with what has been said?

First, we must bear in mind that the viability of the elections is subject to the decision reached by May and the Parliament. To reach an agreement, something historic given the tradition of rejecting raised by May, the chance of Change UK to make a referendum would come to an end. On the other hand, if for the fourth or fifth time they can not reach an agreement, the party could have the possibility of presenting itself before the elections.

Second, if the above happened, could they have enough support? There is a high possibility that this is so, remember that in recent days an online petition created to revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU, reached 6,079,381 signatures. Now, the high number of signatures does not necessarily represent the number of votes that they would have in the referendum, but it is a significant sample to assess how much they want to stay in the European Union, and how far the party is from exceeding 17,410,742 votes obtained in the first referendum.

Third, would they have a chance to win in the European elections? The fact that they express the need for a new referendum is not a new idea, but it seems that both to carry it out and to participate in the elections are objectives that are still not achievable for the recent party.

As stated by New Statement, "the problem that emerges from its survey figures is that, despite its novelty and insurgency, it is at a certain distance from gaining control of a crowded market, and all together relatively small, for voters who will accept nothing less than the United Kingdom that remains in the EU.

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz

Translated from "'Change UK': el partido anti Brexit"