UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement of a snap general election on Tuesday was greeted with an avalanche of reaction on social media, with emotions ranging from optimism to annoyance all prominently on display.
Before May’s revelation on Tuesday, there was an announcement that there would be an announcement. Rumor and speculation ran rife on Twitter as people offered their predictions.
Online excitement hit fever pitch, however, after May announced that she was seeking a snap election on June 8. Politics and political figures were the dominant topic of conversation on Twitter in the UK, and in other areas around the world, throughout the day.
Many people were quick to point out that May promised she wouldn’t call a snap election and, with the Conservatives flying high in recent opinion polls, questioned the prime minister’s motivations.
Whatever happened to ‘now is not the time’? UK General Election: 8th June. Straight choice in Scotland between @theSNP and Tories. #VoteSNP
— Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) April 18, 2017
Theresa May “Scotland you can’t have IndyRef because I am negotiating Brexit”
Theresa May “UK needs an Election despite Brexit Negotiations”— Eoin Clarke (@LabourEoin) April 18, 2017
Reports that May has apparently refused to take part in a TV debate with other party leaders was also the subject of much reaction.
May: Bwuhahaha! Time for a General Election, Sturgeon! What do you say to that, eh?
Sturgeon: Okay. So, when can we debate on TV?
May: pic.twitter.com/8UXf9tRlzH
— Angry Salmond (@AngrySalmond) April 18, 2017
Surprised if May really has ruled out leader’s debate. Would have thought she’d welcome any chance to compare herself as leader to Corbyn.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) April 18, 2017
People who oppose Brexit greeted the announcement as potential opportunity to back out of, or at least water down, Britain’s plan to leave the European Union. Indeed, this is something that the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, explicitly mentioned in a statement about the election results.
“If you want to avoid a disastrous, hard Brexit, if you want to keep Britain in the single market, if you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance,” Farron said.
People predicted that the Lib Dems could make huge gains in the election.
Lib Dems lost 85% of their seats at the last general election – from 57 to 8. If Brexit is the wedge issue, they could regain up to 40 seats
— Benjamin Ramm (@BenjaminRamm) April 18, 2017
I don’t think the timing for the Lib Dems could be much better. Likely boost from May elections likely & outlet for Anti-Brexit voters.
— Stephen Tall (@stephentall) April 18, 2017
Despite Labour performing poorly in recent polls, party leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the election. “I welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first,” Corbyn wrote on his official Facebook page. His leadership continues to divide opinion.
How are moderate Labour MPs going to go into TV studios, look into the camera, and say “I want Jeremy Corbyn to be my prime minister”.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) April 18, 2017
Looking forward to all the takes along the lines of “Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t wear a tie so I’m going to vote for more poverty”
— Hussein Kesvani (@HKesvani) April 18, 2017
If you voted for Jeremy Corbyn to be Labour leader in 2015 or 2016, you own the result that’s coming. It’s yours, good or bad.
— David Mills (@DavidMills73) April 18, 2017
As the UK looks forward to a third straight summer of intense political campaigning many seemed weary with the whole process. One voter in Bristol went viral after expressing absolute exasperation with politics.
While others just took the news as an opportunity to post memes.
