With great joy, the Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicolas Sturgeon, announced to the citizens of her country that her party (the Scottish National Party) would obtain a majority in Parliament, as was expected, by winning 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, one seat far from achieving the absolute majority.
Sturgeon gave priority in her speech to calling for a referendum for a new separation from the United Kingdom, relying on the election results that express the will of the Scots to say their word anew on the issue of secession, despite strong opposition in London.
Sturgeon's enthusiasm in advocating a new referendum for secession from the United Kingdom was met with coldness in London by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who sent a message to his counterpart in Scotland congratulating her on winning the elections and inviting her for joint action, without talking about the referendum file, but this ignorance will not continue For a long time, Johnson will have to formally announce his position on this burning file that threatens the kingdom's break-up.
The call for secession draws thousands of nationalists in Scotland (Reuters)
A struggle of wills
The current elections contributed to the strengthening of the independence camp in the Scottish Parliament, in addition to the Scottish National Party obtaining a majority;
The Green Party, which supports the idea of independence, won 8 seats, against a retreat for the Labor and Conservatives, who are the main opponents of the idea of independence.
Sturgeon used strict language in addressing London, when she considered it unacceptable that the will of the Scots be obstructed, and addressed the speech directly to Prime Minister Johnson not to consider opposing a new referendum because “there is no democratic justification” for this rejection, and with many emotionally charged terms she confirmed that Standing before the referendum is standing before the will of the people.
Sturgeon knows that this is her historic opportunity that will not be replaced if she wants to move forward with the referendum file for the sake of secession, and for this she does not waste time, but has announced that she will refer the referendum draft to Parliament for approval, so that she will have a stronger pressure card with which Boris will face. Johnson.
Despite the strong position in which Sturgeon is located, she knows that the confrontation with Johnson will not be easy, as he too is relying on an absolute majority in the British Parliament, as the results of the recent local elections showed the increasing popularity of his party at the expense of the Labor Party.
Johnson anticipated the election results, by coming out in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper to describe that holding any referendum at the present time would be "reckless and irresponsible", in addition to his previous position in which he affirmed that the referendum takes place only once a generation, and since the Scots have expressed Their position in 2014 of rejecting independence will have to wait many more years.
But the statements alone will not suffice this time, as the approval of the Scottish Parliament on a referendum law means that the Scottish government will formally submit a request to the British Prime Minister to grant it the right to a referendum, and in the event of rejection, it is expected that Sturgeon will proceed with the referendum without the consent of London, then Johnson will resort to the Supreme Court To give its decision on the legality of this referendum.
It is a legal battle that will not be easy for both parties and has a lot of adventure on both sides, as the Supreme Court has never aired in such a file, which means that its ruling will be open to all possibilities, either by invalidating the referendum or supporting it.
Sturgeon announced that it will refer the draft referendum to Parliament for approval (Getty Images)
Collapse of workers
The "Great Thursday" elections were another referendum on the popularity of Boris Johnson and his party (the Conservative Party), and also to measure the ability of New Labor Party leader Keir Starmer to gather his party's diaspora after the historic loss he suffered in 2019, to show that the opposition party is still suffering from bleeding Electoral losses.
The big surprise in this election was the Conservative party’s victory in Hartlepool, which has been a Labor stronghold for more than 50 years, and the recent elections showed that what is known as the Red Wall in the north - the areas that had been controlled by workers for decades - is still collapsing in favor of the conservatives. This is because of the pro-Brexit position in these areas.
The Corona epidemic played a role in strengthening the Conservative Party for its bloc in a number of areas that were considered workers, thanks to the success of the vaccination program at the national level.
The recent results caused a new shock within the Labor Party by dismissing Angela Rayner, who was described as the iron lady within the party and the election official in it, and media reports spoke of the reason for her dismissal because of her misreading of the current elections, and her false expectations that are far from reality.
Only the mayoral elections carried good news for the Labor Party, with the re-election of London Mayor Sadiq Khan for a second term, in addition to the party retaining a majority in the Parliament of Wales at the expense of the Conservatives.
But it is certain that these results will increase the pressure on the party leader Starmer, especially from the left wing of the party, which is still loyal to former leader Jeremy Corbyn, as this wing accuses the new leadership of trying to liquidate all those close to Corbyn and change the face of the labor party.