Chatham House, London

So, there might not be an outright majority in parliament and, yes, there may not be any glorious left-wing coalition (chaotic or otherwise). But this hung parliament may serve as the best possible outcome we could have hoped for as students.

“The current opposition is in an even better position than it was last year at curbing some of the more vicious cuts”

I know that might get an audible gasp from all those that were dreaming of a halcyon leftist Corbyn-led Labour government taking the reins of power from Theresa May, or those that had been led to believe by the polls that this election merely served to reinforce the Tory hold. But with a minority government about to assume power, it might not be the worst thing to happen since, well, the last unexpected vote in this country.

We have an incoming government that can commence Brexit negotiations; like it or not, the Tories have been planning out their negotiations with the EU under the assumption they would be in power. A lot of worry has come from Labour’s seeming lack of a clear Brexit strategy. But the alternative is no better - we now have a government that simply does not have the mandate to carry out any of the frankly destructive and harmful domestic policies that they had pledged in their manifesto.

With Labour, the Lib Dems and SNP staunchly opposed to the expansion of grammar schools, changing the funding formula and raising tuition fees beyond what they are now, any law that goes through the House of Commons in the next five years – if that – will be judged by a more representative parliament than just a Tory majority. With a Commons split more evenly into the big four parties, the current opposition is in an even better position than it was last year at curbing some of the more vicious cuts and caps that were promised under a Tory government.

This means that any policy to become law will have to be moderated from the more right-wing flavour of the May administration to a more restrained centre ground. It may cause some political deadlock, but if it means policies start swinging back in the way of the interests of students and the underprivileged I’m all for it.

It may not be as radical a change as Labour was supposing in their manifesto, but perhaps some years of bland, centrist politics is what this country needs after the last few years of political upheaval – we all want a break from extremes. The parliament may be hung but it is representative of the mood of Britain