Use of way: Scotland means a Tory majority in England way into the distant future

[Klpno]

Hello everyone

I've just noticed that I posted my question in the wrong forum.

I'd like to ask about the meaning of "way" in the following context:

This is crucial because it connects to the Tories' coming war against European federalism. As Cameron, William Hague and the others get into a battle over the constitution and the future of Europe, the Scottish government will be offering itself as a pro-European bastion, just as the Irish did – and nobody knows better than Salmond what a huge financial benefit that once won for Dublin. Many Tories will say, of course, that all this is absolutely fine. According to them, the Scots have been a revenue-sapping bunch of whingers for years, whose main export to England seems to have been politicians and journalists. An independent Scotland means a Tory majority in England way into the distant future. And it makes standing up to the EU easier, in many ways, because Eurosceptic opinion is particularly strong in England. What's the problem?

Does "way" imply here "pretty far in the distant future", i.e. pretty far in the distant future there will be a Tory majority in England ?

[Cerberus™]

"Way" is an informal way of saying "very much", which fits into the informal tone of this text. Usually "way" is used to modify adjectives; in this context it means "very far".

[Klpno]

Thank you very much, Cerberus.

So in this case the phrase in question implies "in a very distant future"?

[Cerberus™]

To be precise, "into" implies a movement, which is in this case a period of time, not one moment only: it means that there would be a Tory majority starting from the independence of Scotland until some time in the distant future.

[Klpno]

Thank you very much again, Cerberus.