What Does The Reduction Of The Conservative Majority Mean For Migration

In the recent general election Prime minister, Theresa May saw her comfortable lead devastatingly cut to the point of having to borrow votes from the Democratic Unionist party from Northern Ireland. What does this change mean for the short term future of migration to the UK?

The conservatives have long targeted the reduction of inward migration to the UK, though they have consistently missed their radical immigration targets to do so. It appears that Prime minister Theresa May had made a miscalculation. In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum result, the UK had marginally voted to leave the economic union of which it had been an early adopter. It seems that in the wake of the decision, May had thought that it was right for her party to launch into a hasty snap general election, seemingly mostly based on the results of opinion polls which had the Conservatives on course to extend their significant majority. So what went wrong?

The last few years have been turbulent in world politics, to say the least. The unexpected results of the UK's referendum were quickly followed by the election of Donald Trump as US president. It appears that May did not think that the unexpected results would extend as far as her. She also appears to have severely underestimated her opponent Jeremy Corbyn.Her own campaign was disastrous, to say the least, while her opponent leads with a more traditional left wing manifesto. The results were unlikely but Corbyn had done enough to upset the apple cart and reduced the Prime minister's power to rely on votes from the DUP.

How this pans out for migration is too early to tell, but the harder right wing position taken by May seems to have backfired. Just recently she has opened up the possibility of listening to policy ideas from around the house of commons. If this is the case then the left wing with its renewed socialist agenda will certainly help the case for would-be migrants to the UK. Labour and particularly the left of the party are heavily behind the rights of migrants and are much more likely to be helpful to the cause. They may also soften the UK's positioning in the Brexit negotiations. Currently, the UK has taken a hardline, but with a broader consensus that is likely to soften considerably.

One thing is for sure, nothing is certain anymore in politics. The extremes of the right and the left are now a lot more normal, but if that builds more a consensus in the planning of policy then that can only be a good thing. The UK is a long way behind many others, especially European countries that allow for a much closer union of opposing parties in order to create greater outcomes. If this is the future of British politics, then the up and down nature of the past few years will create good results.

The team at Reiss Edwards consists of some of London's leading team of immigration solicitors. If you require expert legal advice on obtaining a Permanent Resident Card, British Citizenship, or any other matter relating to Brexit, please call us on 02037442797.