This election was supposed to be all about Brexit – or at least that’s what Theresa May told us when she called the snap poll back in April. And yet, as the dust settles, it is clear that this election has been something of a setback for Brexiteers.

Designed to strengthen the Prime Minister’s hand ahead of tough negotiations with EU leaders, the election has undoubtedly weakened the UK’s negotiating position and left many wondering just why Mrs May took such a risk so close to the start of the talks.

The national results make the scale of the Conservative setback clear. The Tories, who entered this election with 330 seats, are down twelve and have lost their majority in parliament.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party have meanwhile managed to pick up twenty-nine seats for a total of 261 MPs. Along the way some Conservative ministers lost their seats; the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, only just survived with a 300 vote majority.

Yet these headline figures do not tell us the whole story, for this is really a tale of three elections.

 

England and Wales

In England and Wales the story was of Conservative losses to Labour. Here the Conservatives actually lost twenty-four seats whilst Labour picked up twenty-three. The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cyrmu also gained a seat each whilst UKIP lost out but the overall trend was one of Labour gains from the Tories.

In England and Wales the Conservatives only won 305 seats to Labour’s 254 – a much more slender margin than the national figures suggest.

 

Scotland

In Scotland, the results were very different. The SNP, defending 56 seats, had a very bad night and ended up losing twenty one MPs in all, with seats going to all three of their unionist rivals.

The Scottish Conservatives picked up twelve, bringing their total to thirteen, whilst the Scottish Liberal Democrats gained three to come to a grand total of four: this much was more or less in line with the opinion polls.

But it was Labour’s resurgence in Scotland that came as a surprise with the party gaining six seats right across Scotland to stand at seven in all. The unionist surge may well have been more dramatic had the SNP not held on to North East Fife by two votes and Perth & North Perthshire by twenty-one.

The Conservative gains here were particularly significant, bringing Theresa May thirteen seats closer to a majority and up to a net loss of twelve seats.

 

Northern Ireland

There were plenty of upsets in Northern Ireland too where the moderate SDLP and UUP lost ground to Sinn Féin and the DUP.

Seats such as Fermanagh & South Tyrone and South Down had been seen as likely to change hands but few saw Sinn Féin taking the SDLP citadel of Foyle or the DUP taking the most diverse seat in the country, Belfast South.

In all, Northern Ireland is now represented by 10 DUP MPs and Sylvia Hermon, an independent Unionist, with Sinn Féin’s seven MPs declining to take their seats at Westminster.

 

So, whilst we see that the election has been bad for Brexit, there is a silver lining.

The Prime Minister may have promised a red, white and blue Brexit but she has instead delivered a red, white and blue election where the Conservative government is now completely reliant on Northern Irish and Scottish Unionists, elected to stop Sinn Féin and the SNP respectively.

These MPs, representing two regions that voted Remain last June, will be determined to strengthen and protect the Union through the Brexit process and beyond and, like it or not, Theresa May will have to listen to what they have to say.

Now this might not have been what Theresa May intended when she called this snap election, but one thing is now certain – the fate of her government is now more closely intertwined with that of the union than ever before.

The Scottish and Northern Irish unionists sold themselves on being stronger for the Union and now they have the opportunity to demonstrate that in practice.

If they can make the Union work then the UK may come through this Brexit process in one piece after all.