There was no clear winner in Thursday's British elections but there was one clear loser. The Conservatives lost their majority in a snap general election that should never have been held. It has resulted in a hung parliament and no clarity as to who will form the next government. It was a humiliating result for Prime Minister Theresa May who sought a stronger mandate but ended up weakened by an election that wiped out her parliamentary majority. The Conservatives won 318 seats, the biggest single winner, but failed to reach the 326-mark they would need for an outright parliamentary majority. Labor won 261. Before the elections the Conservatives had 330 seats and Labor 229. That figure was good enough for most Conservatives but May wanted more. She said she needed a bigger majority to guarantee political stability in the Brexit negotiations with the EU. So she called the election three years earlier than required by law, convinced by opinion polls that placed her far ahead of opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. She began the campaign with healthy ratings - a number of polls gave her party a 20-point lead when she called the election. She said she wanted a stronger hand in dealing with Brexit but it is obvious that she was tempted by poor polling numbers for Labor and saw a political opportunity. This felt like an election that failed to come to life even though it was supposed to be about Brexit as a game changer. It was dubbed the Brexit election. It was supposed to be about shaping Britain's post-Brexit future - keeping the UK from breaking apart over its exit from the EU and healing the still sometimes bitter divisions between the opposing sides in last year's EU referendum. But it soon became apparent that Brexit was not all that was on voters' minds. It was an issue but so too were the economy, security, health, education and social care, the bread and butter issues. Despite politicians from both sides focusing on security in the final days, neither the attack in Manchester last month nor the London Bridge attack this week seems to have made much difference to the results although security must have loomed in the background. May in particular came under fire for her record as home secretary, a role she held for six years under her predecessor David Cameron. Under her tenure in the role that is responsible for homeland security among other things, police numbers across the UK were reduced by 20,000. Not the best of achievements in the wake of three terrorist attacks in three months. May also doomed herself with a controversial policy that would have raised the cost of care for the elderly. Though the vote backfired spectacularly, May is resisting calls to resign. She probably won't but the Conservatives short of an overall majority will only able to govern with the support of other parties. The poll result is particularly humiliating for May because there was no need for it. She repeatedly said that the government would serve its five-year term. Then, in April, she suddenly called a new election, giving it seven weeks. Polls showed she was likely to win a landslide and cement her political power. But things move quickly in politics. Thursday's was a devastating result for May. The result was not as shocking as Donald Trump capturing the White House or Britain voting to leave the European Union, but it is very disconcerting for Britain's future and all because of political greed. May made a terrible error. She has thrown away a majority for the sake of an unnecessary election.
