‘They got what they deserved’
British tourists on ‘dramatic’ election results
British tourists in Malta voiced mixed views on the UK election results yesterday but told a Times of Malta vox pop they were generally unsurprised by the results.
One Labour voter said she was happy with the result but concerned by the party’s strong majority in parliament while a Conservative voter called Labour’s landslide victory “inevitable”.
One man who had not voted but favoured the Liberal Democrats said that, though he felt sorry for the “good Conservatives”, the party had gone “from one disaster to another”.
Meanwhile, another Briton said he did not think either of the main parties were up to scratch and that, although he had not voted, he thought voters should have backed the hard-right Reform instead.
Almost half of the British tourists Times of Malta spoke to said they hadn’t voted in the election that is estimated to have seen a voter turnout of around 60 per cent
Yesterday, a resurgent Labour party led by Keir Starmer swept to victory in the UK elections, winning a landslide victory that saw the incumbent Conservative party decimated.
Smaller parties also fared well, with the Liberal Democrats gaining more than 60 seats to become the third biggest party in parliament and
Reform UK making significant gains.
Meanwhile, the Greens recorded their best election performance to date and Labour’s victory was helped by a strong performance in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party (SNP) suffered heavy defeats, losing more than 35 seats.
Times of Malta asked British tourists in St Paul’s Bay what they thought of the results yesterday morning and encountered mixed views.
Scottish Labour voter Fraser Erskine said he was “pleased” with the results, adding it was
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“about time the Tories [Conservative party] were out”.
While Erskine voted for the Scottish National Party (SNP) – a party that has campaigned for Scottish independence – at the last election in 2019, he said he had switched to Labour this time because he thought it had the best chance of defeating the Conservatives.
“The only way that we were ever going to change the government down in England was to vote Labour,” he said.
Fellow Labour voter and 19year-old politics student Grace Cerenko said while she was “happy” with the party’s victory, she was also “quite concerned” by its strong majority controlling nearly two-thirds of the house.
“I’m still not sure if it’s going to go in the direction that I’m hoping,” she said.
Conservative voter Becky Seddon called the result “inevitable”, saying she thought her party “hadn’t done a great job” but said she still voted for them because it was “better the devil you know”.
Expressing her fears about Labour’s handling of the UK economy, Seddon said “whenever they get in, we end up with a massive debt. So, let’s wait and see”, adding she thought the results would affect younger voters more.
Alan Salisbury said he “wasn’t surprised” and that, while the UK electorate expected a “big change”, the results were “probably more dramatic”.
He said that although he had not voted due to being on holiday in Malta, he “probably” would have voted for the Liberal Democrats, whose gains he said he had been “very surprised” by, adding it was “nice” to see the Green party gain recognition.
Karen Yoksha and Lindsay Maurooney said the vote had been “mostly expected” but were not convinced by Labour’s vision for the UK.
“Keir Starmer has gone on about changing Britain. And I think there’s a lot of change that’s going to come that won’t benefit those that do work and pay into the system,” said Maurooney.
She said she thought Starmer would “do well overseas” but seemed less convinced about his leadership back home, while saying she thought outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak “could have done better”.
Asked if they thought the Conservative party had got what it deserved, Yoksha said she thought “most politicians get what they deserve eventually”.
Salisbury called Starmer a “nice guy who says the right things [but] maybe a bit too placid” but thought that Brexit firebrand and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was “a character”, had personality and “put his point across well”, despite not liking him.
Malcolm Stokes indicated his support for Farage, meanwhile, saying his newfound representation in parliament – a seat the politician secured on his eighth attempt – could “only be good for the country”.
Heather Rodger, meanwhile, said she was “very disappointed” with all UK politicians in the election, accusing them of “looking after themselves”.
“I actually didn’t vote; I felt it would be a wasted vote because I don’t think there’s anyone worth it,” she said.
“I think they [politicians] lose the impression (sic) of looking after the working class, and that’s across the board... I’ve totally lost faith.”
“About time the Tories were out