Vote may be tragedy for Europe and for us

EVEN if you allow for the vanity that sometimes convinces us that this fleeting moment is the most historically significant, it is still very difficult to imagine that there has been, in the history of this State, a British general election result with the potential to have a greater impact on this island than the Conservatives’ resounding and totally unexpected victory yesterday.

The Tory House of Commons majority was so unexpected that Ed Miliband, who 48 hours ago still believed he could become Britain’s next prime minister, is no longer even leader of the Labour Party. His fate has been shared by the Liberal Democrats’ Nick Clegg and Ukip’s Nigel Farage, both of whom fell on their swords, though each presided over very different performances.

The winner-takes-all nature of British politics means that, even before the post-mortems on the Labour, Lib Dem, and Ukip campaigns begin, the conversation has already moved on to who will succeed these three leaders.