EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

I don't think you can claim the mandate in terms of the absolute voting numbers like you're doing, at best there was also a ~16 million vote for remaining which presumably makes that the second largest mandate ever?

the green party made a huge deal out of the fact that they won 1.1 million votes in may 2015 (ukip 3.8 million), bullishly claiming that they had a tremendous amount of support... the difference in votes between leave and remain was...just under 1.3 million

Not sure of the relevance here.

Also think that because the vote was very close then leave don't have a strong mandate. They did win thought so do have a mandate.

Sure, I'm not saying there wasn't a result, just that claiming the result is "17 million voted to leave, which is a really big number" is too simplistic.

And I'm not sure how anyone could argue with that the Conservatives hold a mandate to negotiate the terms of Brexit, something that was clearly not on the cards at the time of the GE

They were elected on the promise of holding a referendum on Brexit early on during their 5 year term, so one would assume they'd have the mandate for implementing it should the great unwashed masses vote that way which, unfortunately, they did.

I'm a staunch remainer but the "Theresa May wasn't elected PM" is the clutchingest of straws.

Agree with this

The way things are going, she'll have resigned by Thursday (shamelessly stolen from dmreporter on twitter)

greenbank - we may be on different sides of the debate, but I gotta say I admire your fairness

Of course it was a jibe at the leave campaign's 'unelected official' argument rather than saying it shouldn't be the case but cool.

libtard dicktatorship

well done. did you make that up all on your own or did you have help? let us know when that 350 million quid turns up, champ.

We don't have a presidential system, we elect parties and the conservative party has a mandate still fresh after a year. The leave vote had over 17 million votes, being the largest mandate for anything ever in the uk and it's not like the british population (in particular the young, connected under 25 bracket) were not aware of the referendum taking place

The Conservative Party only received 11m votes at the general election, a win so slim that it only amounted to 36.9% of the vote share, on a turnout of only 66%.

That is hardly a "mandate" for anything. But whatever it was could reasonably be interpreted as a mandate for whatever was the basis of the campaign.

The Conservative campaign was for an In/Out Referendum, and for the UK to clear the deficit by the end of the term.

The first has been achieved, and the latter has been obliterated by the result of that referendum (George Osbourne has already acknowledged this).

If then... the "mandate" is "votes for, the will of the people for us to do blah", and blah is achieved or not applicable, and the votes were not even a majority... what then is left of the mandate for the current government? Especially when the leader that people believed would be in power after the election has already gone.

And if we turn to the referendum, a mandate is surely a will, an authority granted... it speaks of decisiveness, of a common will and purpose... not of a 51.9% vs 48.1% result.

The difference is smaller than the number of people who voted for the Lib Dems in the general election.

That's tiny, and is hardly a mandate for anything.

If the referendum were split 50/50, and the difference was one vote... just one, Derek's vote (no idea who Derek is). Would that have delivered a mandate? Is a single vote a mandate for anything?

What difference is enough to say that one has a mandate? The Conservatives don't even have the majority of the public vote, and yet claim a mandate... so can one have a mandate on a minority of the vote?

The whole mantra, and idea, of a mandate and the subtle phrasing of "implicit mandate" is vile. The only response is that both the Conservative government today, and the Leave camp today, do not have a "legitimate mandate".

Why? Because little to none of the promises of the Leave camp can be delivered (if they haven't already been wiped as lies), and little to none of what is left of the platform that was the Conservative Party campaign for the general election remains either.

The very basis upon which people voted for both the Conservatives and Leave has either been fulfilled or isn't valid (times are different now, or the campaigns lied tremendously).

No-one, except for the SNP, currently has a legitimate mandate for anything.

As times are different now, and nothing that preceded the referendum result looked beyond the result or how to handle a Leave win, the government certainly does not have a mandate.

Can't wait for vol-d-mots reply. Bet he'll totally deconsurct all these points and make us all see clearly what a mandate is.

Mandate? Sounds like something Stephen Crabb wants to ban.

I'll, erm, drop u a txt x

I wouldn't be fooled by the Tory claim that the deficit target has been dropped because of Brexit - it was always going to be impossible and Brexit is just a good excuse.

Giddion is no fool. Well he is a fool, just not that kind of fool

Wow, has anyone else seen the latest breaking news on BBC. They recounted the referendum papers and instead of voting for Brexit we actually voted to watch MPs smear poo on their faces as we watch on in helpless horror.

I can't keep up with the news at the moment. So much breaking at once.

So where do you draw the line that indicates a true mandate ?
A win by a certain percentage of votes and turnout ?
Extra time and then penalties ?
I know - cheap and simplistic sport analogy.

50%+1
It's called democracy, lots of us lost, lots didn't bother voting.

Most democracies have a mandate of 60-70% for significant constitutional change, specifically to allow for the occasional bout of hysteria from the electorate. The U.K. doesn't do referenda very often, so fucks it up.

As 1,000+ barristers stated today, without a threshold in the referendum it was not a binding vote, merely advisory. This was known before the referendum too, but no-one was listening then.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p21p3uqSjIA

Ah, now it makes sense.

Mandate = sophisticated, long-lasting, and very sexy.

Describes the Conservatives perfectly.

What do the SNP have a mandate for? They don't even have a majority at Holyrood.