By Alistair Michaels
November 26th, 2020
Miracle. An utter miracle. These were the words spoken by Liberal Party chairman Stefan Depaillier when the Chief of the Electoral Commission stood before the nation for a televised statement officially confirming the election result. Liberal had secured the second-most seats in a single election in their entire history as the Conservatives were subjected to the political equivalent of being hung, drawn and quartered. It was an utter embarrassment, the aftermath of a campaign tainted with numerous scandals and controversies coming to light along with "a complete disconnect from the electorate", left the Conservatives with a mere 58 seats - a horrifying loss of 111 seats nationwide. Most of these losses were swept up by the Liberal party who gained 63 seats this election for a total of 189, whilst losing virtually none of the seats they held prior to the election.
For the first time in their history ACTION! has representation in the House of Commons with two members as the Greens double their seat total to six, the New Democrats gain four and the Civic Platform twelve. This election has also set the record for the most parties represented in a single Parliament - eight.
The current formation of Parliament
Red = Liberal, Blue = Conservative, Orange = Civic Platform, Light Blue = New Democrats
Purple = National, Green = Green Party, Dark Blue = Bloc Heraultois
Yellow = ACTION! and Grey = Independent
The Liberals easily passed the threshold for a working parliamentary majority, with a 14 seat buffer afforded to them. Leader of the Liberal Party Sterling Ramsay was received by a 22,000-strong crowd at the Liberal Convention, held this year at the Phoenix Arena in Halifax as the path to 33 Portchester lies dead ahead. He spoke of how "15 years of Conservative government had drowned the country" and that the "Liberals had won the battle for the nation's soul". Nicolas Osgood, leader of the Conservative Party had reportedly telephoned Mr Ramsay to concede the election, admitting defeat.
Osgood is set to resign as party leadership seek for him to "take the noble" way out and open the door for a new leader to come in. It was the worst Conservative performance in an election ever and Osgood had to watch helplessly as 111 seats were torn from him and with it his tenure as Prime Minister. He issued a statement earlier this morning saying he was to meet with the "backbench 20", a grouping of Conservatives that hold significant power and influence within the party, to assess his options - or rather, option.
Our political correspondent Max Mather can see "no other alternative" for Osgood as he has just "led the Conservatives to their biggest parliamentary embarrassment ever". Pressure was already mounting on Osgood to resign following the wake of the Battersea and Walkenshaw scandal, in which lucrative contracts were allegedly given to personal friends of Osgood for some yet-to-be determined personal benefit, likely a future cash sum; in essence, bribery.
Parliament is set to assemble next week, starting with the King's Speech. Parliament will then vote on the King's Speech which has, by convention, been a de facto confidence motion on the government, its passing is an almost certainty.
Meanwhile, the Bloc Héraultois maintained their seat total with a net change of zero, and have sworn to oppose the government at all opportunities and seek concessions and benefits for Hérault - a promise they have made every election since they entered into Parliament in 1997.
The Conservatives will for the first time since 2002, enter into Official Opposition as the Civic Platform, New Democrats, National, Bloc Heraultois, the Greens, ACTION! and two independents join them.
