UK Vote Raises Hopes For Soft Brexit

Prime Minister’s weakened position could soften stance

“We might end up with a better outcome”

- Stephanie Baker and James Paton

After the shock comes the silver lining.

Most business leaders are dismayed at the political chaos unleashed by the UK election, which left a damaged Prime Minister Theresa May trying to forge a shaky coalition government. But some are quietly hoping that it may lead to softer terms for the country’s exit from the European Union.

UK Plc was mostly opposed to May’s hard stance on Brexit, which would mean a loss of tariff-free access to the EU’s single market. Even so, when she called a snap election seven weeks ago, business leaders backed her and poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into her Conservative Party campaign as she gambled on securing a bigger majority to strengthen her negotiating hand. Now a weakened May is trying to form a new government with the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party after the Tories fell short of seats to rule alone.

“Most people in the UK won’t forgive Theresa May” for calling an early election, said Martin Frost, chief executive officer of Cambridge Medical Robotics, a UK company that’s developing a robotic system for surgery. “On the marginally positive side, perhaps it means a softer Brexit.”