I definitely don't see the resident quota going up: Labour campaigned on reducing immigrant numbers, and Whiskey Peters will want to reduce it way more than Labour themselves would like to. It's either staying the same, or going down -- and most likely, going down.
My predictions for SMC for the near future:
- The EOI pool is closed for the entirety of 2020. No new EOI's are accepted into the pool, and no draws are made from the pool. Those in the EOI pool and that have not been drawn from it are refunded the EOI fee.
- Those who have had their EOI selected (obviously, including those who have received their ITA and/or lodged their formal application) will make up the 2020 SMC residence quota, and their applications will be processed as per the immigration instructions applicable on the day their EOI was selected. In other words, nothing changes for them, apart from the fact that their applications languishing in the case officer queue will (finally!) be processed.
- Once the ITA queue has shrunk far enough (in 2021), the EOI pool reopens, but with far more stringent and difficult criteria for EOI selection than is currently the case (read: harder to get points and/or more points required).
Of course, these are just predictions and guesswork on my part, but I believe this to be a totally plausible outcome.