Bahrain’s Embassy in London hosts event on UK general elections

London, Dec. 14 (BNA): The Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom held an event on the occasion of the UK Parliamentary general elections that took place on December 12, 2019, and continued till the early morning hours of December 13, 2019 to follow up, discuss and analyse the election results. The preliminary polls indicated at that time that the Conservative party had won a majority to form the British government, headed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, by a huge difference that was the largest since 1987. The event was attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine, Hossam Zamrout, and the Ambassador of the League of Arab States in London, Ibrahim Mohiuddin, in addition to a large number of Arab and British diplomats and journalists, and academics. During the course of the discussion, a number of interactive discussions were held with experts, journalists, ministers and former representatives in Britain, where Lord Francis Maude who previously served as a former Conservative Chairman, served for twenty-five years in the House of Commons, delivered a presentation and analysis of his expectations regarding the formation of the next government and the most central decisions that may be made during the coming period, in addition to an explanation of British foreign relations, especially with Arab countries in terms of greater openness to the economy and foreign trade with the near implementation of exit procedures from the European Union (Brexit). He also mentioned that this success achieved by the Conservative Party through Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be a strong motivation for conducting talks with the European Union in a more positive way after eliminating the state of the suspended parliament, which was suffering from British parliamentary life during the years, especially since the 2017 elections. Journalist Con Coughlin, Editor-in-Chief of the Defence and Foreign Affairs columnists of the Daily Telegraph, answered questions from the audience regarding military cooperation between the Arab countries and the United Kingdom during the coming period, which is expected to increase and strengthen, especially to protect regional security in the region, and to secure the waterways in the Gulf region, which is core of the global economy. The Director of the Board of Governors for the Middle East in the Conservative Party, Charlotte Lesley, affirmed that following the big results of the victory of the Conservative Party in the elections, the Council will introduce, during the next stage, new deputies to Middle East issues and strive to convey accurate representations of issues of concern for Arab countries. She then thanked ambassadors of Arab countries in London, particularly the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, on the ongoing cooperation with the Council and on organising this important event.