On June 9, 2017, Professor Wang Zhanpeng, Director of British Studies Center, Beijing Foreign Studies University, was invited to China Global Television Network (CGTN)’s World Wide Watch program to discuss the impact of the latest UK general election.

The UK general election started at 7 am (GMT), June 8, 2017. This was the first general election held after the UK referendum on EU membership, the consequences of which would have important impact on the Brexit process. At noon June 9, Professor Wang entered the program and made predictions on the results of the election, saying that the Conservative Party would unlikely be able to establish an exclusive cabinet and there was high probability that a hung Parliament would appear, and that it was possible for the Conservatives to form a coalition government with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Professor Wang also analyzed reasons and motivations of Theresa May’s proposal for this early election, pointing out that May’s desire to reduce the resistance of the Brexit process at home and concerns of her political and personal interest were at work.

In addition, Professor Wang gave his views about the influence of recent terrorist attacks in the UK on the results of this election. He said that, traditionally, the Conservative Party would tend to implement stricter security policies, but there had been multiple terrorist attacks since the Conservative Party came into power seven years ago. The public is inevitably dissatisfied with the situation. Many people believed that May bore some responsibility for the occurrences of those attacks, for she once served as the Interior Minister in the Cameron Government before taking office as the Prime Minister.