Berlin, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The President of the German Federal Association of Employers (BDA) Ingo Kramer expressed hopes on Friday that the result of Thursday's British election would prompt London to take a more realistic approach to Brexit.
After attempting to capitalize on a strong lead in surveys, conservative British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a humiliating night as she failed to secure an outright majority and the opposition Labour party recorded impressive gains.
May had focused her election pitch on the need to guarantee a "strong and stable" government capable of successfully delivering the "Hard Brexit" the conservative party wants to achieve by leaving the European Union as well as the European Single Market.
Her failure to secure sufficient votes to continue governing without a coalition partner, resulting in a hung parliament, has been widely interpreted as a victory for proponents of a "Soft Brexit" wherein Britain maintains close economic ties to the European Union.
BDA President Kramer said that the British example showed that neither "nationalism and anti-EU rhetoric, nor left-wing social romanticism" were viable political strategies to win majorities.
