GE2017: West Country political expert explains the result

Mark Wickham-Jones, Professor of Political Science at Bristol University has offered his thoughts on what, by many accounts, has been a shock General Election result.

The main reasons he says the Conservatives did not receive the result they were hoping for are:

• Brexit not playing in the way they had hoped.

• They were vague about their details and did not offer commitments.

• They thought they were so far out that they could afford to take that risk.

The "remarkable outcome" for Labour, Prof Wickham-Jones says, is rooted in the young voters not only registering to vote, but actually ticking a box on the ballot paper.

There are still question marks over what Labour is going to do though, the Professor argues, with celebrations being a bit premature. "Remember the number of seats they got is around the same number they got in 2010".Concluding, Professor Wickham-Jones said: "one of the things about this election is it marks a shift back to two-party politics".