The meaning of the results

Tories are predicted to win the general election, writes Alison Goddard.

The Conservatives are likely to govern the UK for the next five years, according to the election results so far. The BBC says that the party is likely to fall just one seat short of an overall majority. Labour has lost ground and the Liberal Democrats have been all but wiped out—Vince Cable, the former business secretary, has lost his seat. The Scottish National Party represents Scotland. The results have profound implications for British universities.

David Cameron has promised that an in-out referendum on the European Union will be held by 2017. The British public is currently evenly split on the matter: a survey by Populous found that 39 per cent of the public are in favour of leaving and 40 per cent want to stay, according to the Financial Times. If the UK were to quit the EU, it would damage links with its biggest trading partner. Economists predict that the UK would be impoverished by such actions. There would thus be less money to spend and public funding cuts could deepen. EU students at British universities would be liable to pay the same tuition fees as international students. This could affect recruitment. Researchers would no longer have access to EU funding and there is no guarantee that the money saved by exiting the EU would be spent on higher education.