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UK ELECTION

How Britain’s election process works

By Ben Mullins

November 28, 2019 - British voters are heading to the polls for the third time in less than four years after lawmakers backed Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for a snap election just two weeks before Christmas.

Almost everything about this ballot is impossible to predict. It pits Johnson against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn -- each with spending plans unheard of since the tax-and-spend and borrowing culture of the 1970s.

The winner could finally settle the fate of Brexit, more than three years after a referendum to leave the European Union plunged the nation into crisis.

Johnson is gambling an election will finally give him the majority in Parliament he needs to push through his stalled Brexit deal. His rival, Corbyn, could put the whole thing to a second referendum.

The Liberal Democrats, led by Jo Swinson with a signature policy of opposing Brexit, and Nigel Farage’s Brexit party, which favours a “clean break” with the EU, are threatening to squeeze both the main parties in marginal seats.

The Scottish National party is aiming to secure extra Westminster seats to strengthen its hand in seeking another independence poll, while a face-off between nationalist and unionist parties in Northern Ireland could boost the cause of a united Ireland. The stakes are high.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 28/11/2019; ORIGINAL STATIC GRAPHIC: GN39717 Duncan Mil; TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Phil BainbridgeSTORY: Graphic News
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