Ukie tries to reassure industry after shock election result

Will Theresa May quit? Will the Brexit pause button be pressed? Where did Lord Buckethead get that lovely helmet?

These are just some of the questions the UK is waking up to this morning after the surprise news that Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election has resulted in the loss of the Conservative parliamentary majority, with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour enjoying huge gains across the country.

For UK video games businesses one of the first questions will be how a hung parliament, and the potential for a coalition or minority Tory government, will affect what has been a period of solid support for the sector.

Ukie will ensure that we are keeping our members and the industry up to date with developments as they unfold, whether this is the formation of a new coalition or a minority government," Ukie CEO Jo Twist said.

Whatever the eventual outcome, we look forward to working with a new government that is supportive of the UK’s globally successful games sector. We will be lobbying the incoming government to recognise the needs of the games sector as they develop their policies.

In particular we will seek to ensure the best Brexit deal for the UK is reached by recognising our continuing need for highly skilled local and international talent, achieving the right conditions for data flows and international trade, as well as a commitment to our generous tax relief which fuels creativity and innovation in our world leading industry."

Ukie has said it expects to release more concrete plans later today.

The Ukie 2017 manifesto released last month pledged to focus efforts on several issues rising from last year’s Brexit vote. The potential for a softening of May’s hard Brexit could very likely prove beneficial in this respect, even if the price we pay is a period of further confusion and political chaos.