Brexit and the Election in the United Kingdom

Today, the United Kingdom is holding its first general election since the vote to leave the European Union (Brexit) last summer. While Prime Minister Theresa May is hoping to increase her parliamentary majority, the recent events that have shaken the country cast uncertainty around the election. Over the last several weeks, the center-left Labour Party has increased its electoral prospects and Prime Minister May’s popularity has been negatively affected. Since the new government will be negotiating the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, this election is particularly important. Some of the key issues at stake for the country are trade and access to the EU’s Common Market, the status of EU citizens living in the United Kingdom and vice versa, and the exiting from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This article analyzes the British economy and some of the key issues mentioned above.

Brexit and the Election in the United Kingdom

With a total territory of almost 244.000 square kilometers, the United Kingdom is somewhat smaller than Oregon. Currently, the country has a total population of 64.5 million citizens, more than 80% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of London with approximately 10 million inhabitants. Furthermore, the United Kingdom is one of the world’s most important economies, a member of both the G7 and the G20, with a national annual gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.7 trillion. Likewise, the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 1.5% in recent years. The British economy is divided into 1% agriculture, 19% manufacturing, and 80% services. Similarly, the agricultural industry employs 1% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 15% and services employ another 84%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes 71% of the national territory, while another 12% is forested.

In terms of natural resources, the United Kingdom has coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, and arable land. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on machinery & electric equipment, railroads, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles, electronics, metals, chemicals, paper products, food processing, and textiles. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep, poultry, and fish. In terms of trade, the United Kingdom’s main partners are Germany, the United States, China, the Netherlands, and France. Furthermore, in 2015, the United Kingdom had a trade deficit of about US$180 billion. That year, the country exported US$425 billion worth of goods and imported US$606 billion.

Simultaneously, land distribution in the United Kingdom has evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered 12.5 million hectares, while arable land covered almost 7.2 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for 120.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had decreased to less than 11 million hectares, while arable land represented little over 6.2 million hectares and permanent crops covered some 45.000 hectares.

(Read more about The Effect of Brexit on the Agriculture Industry)