Here is a quick summary of the election:
- Theresa May, in her infinite wisdom, called an election to boost Conservative seats. They already had a majority in parliament, and it was completely unnecessary.
- Labour were around 25% behind the Conservatives at the beginning of the election
- The Conservative campaign was so bad, and Labour's so good, that Labour have gained 30 seats and the Conservatives have lost their majority
So now the Conservatives need 8 more seats to form a majority government. The only party willing to give them those seats is the DUP. The DUP is a right-wing Irish party literally supported by terrorists. This is not an opinion, it is fact.
This is the sort of shit the DUP is into. Anti-abortion, anti-gay ex paramilitary group. They are already asking for a hard EU border to separate Ireland from the UK, and it looks like the Conservatives are going to fold and give them everything they want. Some Conservatives MPs could rebel and put their foot down, only 3-4 would need to do that for them to lose their majority and possibly force another election.
The most striking thing about this DUP alliance, to me, is how it is going to inevitably backfire. The Conservatives are not a far right party, they are much closer to centre than the DUP, and many voters will be disenfranchised with the DUP being put into power by their own party. Without the gains in Scotland last night, the Conservatives would not have even been able to have a coalition majority with the DUP. The Conservatives are going to be totally fucked in the next election, particularly in England.
Here is another taste of the DUP. This is one of the MPs that will be put into power by the Conservatives.
That is exactly what they are, and yes, they will not be happy. Letting DUP into government is going to make NI less stable, at best.
The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who is openly gay, just posted something that suggests she might make a point of opposing the coalition. The Conservatives are heavily reliant on those Scottish seats. A Conservative majority is not a complete certainty at the moment.