> outright control of Parliament

Nobody has this! MPs are always free to vote their conscience, and sometimes they do. The Conservatives are not all of one mind about how to conduct Brexit.

The aim was not simply to increase the Conservative majority, but to try to make sure that the new MPs making up that increased majority were on board with May's hard Brexit, so there wasn't a risk of a backbench revolt scuppering Brexit.

The party used an "emergency procedure" for candidate selection that gave the party leadership more control than previous candidates.

* http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2017/05/central...