by John Brian Shannon

UK General Election 2019 results chart. Image courtesy of BBC.com

Following Labour’s loss in the UK General Election 2019, UK Labour leaders have admitted responsibility for their failure at the polls. Very admirable. Both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have accepted ‘full responsibility’ for the loss of 59-Labour seats in this election.

Which is very responsible of them and shows a level of maturity not always seen in politicians, who, as we have seen in recent days, can sometimes be angry with voters when their party loses an election or when they lose their own seat.

But does all that responsibility and maturity tell the whole story?

Looking at the Larger Context

In a democracy, politicians must represent the wishes of The People, or at the very least, try to represent the wishes of the constituents in the district they serve. This can sometimes be a bit of a gamble.

Nevertheless, in a democracy, ALL THE PEOPLE must be represented.

We don’t get to choose, politicians don’t get to choose — it’s The People who get to choose what policies they want brought forward and which ones to downgrade. And try as they might, not all of the politicians all of the time get the prevailing mood of the people right. Therefore, we have ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in elections. But, you knew that.

What Labour Did

I believe that Jeremy Corbyn & Co. decided early-on that there was a sizeable number of Britons who could be classed as ‘Remainers’ and the Labour leadership decided to represent those people at the election. If there were as many ‘Remain’ voters as the Labour leadership thought there were, Jeremy Corbyn might’ve been in 10 Downing St. by now.

And there were enough Remainers to put 203 Labour MP’s into the House of Commons, but not enough to surpass the party that supported ‘Leave’. That’s how elections go; Sometimes you guess right and sometimes you guess wrong. And Labour guessed wrong this time.

Regardless, I admire Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell for choosing to support those who would’ve been under-represented at this election — as in a democracy, ALL THE PEOPLE have the right to be represented, even if we don’t agree with their views. Because, in a democratic system, it isn’t all about you. It’s about everyone.

But now that the election has been held and the results tabulated, it’s clear that the Leave-supporting party has won the election by a landslide… and those voters who voted for ‘Remain’ parties must accept the will of The People in the same responsible and mature manner as demonstrated by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell.

It’s over. ‘Leave’ won. The People have spoken. It’s time to respect the democratic will of The People and get on with delivering Brexit.