The votes have been cast and the results are in, The Conservative Party has won a majority in Parliament, which means that Prime Minister David Cameron will return once again to No.10 Downing Street.

With 326 seats confirmed, we now have an overall majority. THANK YOU for voting for a brighter, more secure future. pic.twitter.com/b3ib8T3Ui0

— Conservatives (@Conservatives) May 8, 2015

In what was billed ‘the closest election for decades’, The Conservative Party surprised everyone by winning a majority of the seats in Parliament on Friday morning. A majority means that they now have more than half of the MPs that sit in the House of Commons; no coalition is needed like in 2010 when they needed to partner with the Liberal Democrats in order to reach a majority of seats.

Now that the results are in, we’re keen to look again at the Conservative manifesto and see what their win means for international aid and development. Below are some of their pledges taken directly from their manifesto:

# “We will continue to meet the 0.7 per cent target, maintain an independent Department for International Development and keep aid untied.”  (p78 in the manifesto)

# “By 2020, we will save 1.4 million children’s lives, by immunising 76 million children against killer diseases.” (p78 in the manifesto)

# “We will help at least 11 million children in the poorest countries gain a decent education, improve nutrition for at least 50 million people, who would otherwise go hungry; and help at least 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation, to stop terrible diseases.” (p78 in the manifesto)

# “We will push for new global goals to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and promote human development, gender equality and good governance.” (p78-79 in the manifesto)

# “We will work to prevent climate change and assist the poorest in adapting to it.” (p79)

# “As the route out of poverty is about much more than just aid, we will boost growth and jobs, making it easier for people to start up businesses and trade freely with each other.” (p79)

# “We will promote girls’ education, encourage equal access to property rights and work to achieve access to family planning for everyone who wants it.” (p79)

# “We will continue to lead efforts to tackle violence against women and girls, end FGM and combat early and forced marriage, both at home and abroad.” (p79)

This is just an overview of the Conservative manifesto, please take time to check it out for yourself here. 

Whether or not the party you voted for did well last night, what's important is what happens from here.
With The Conservative Party set to govern the UK for the next five years, we as global citizens need to keep the pressure on so that the party lives up to its promises, and feels that extreme poverty eradication is a high priority for voters. 

The party’s promises to the world’s poor can’t be promises that fall by the wayside. The potential to create change and improve millions of lives is there, and now it's time to see that potential become reality.

There are a lot of positive pledges here that we welcome here at the Global Poverty Project but what do you think? Comment below and let us know.