Here are some of the key players and intriguing figures in this week’s election.
Conservative Party Leader: Rishi Sunak (age 44)
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made history as Britain’s first person of colour to become Prime Minister, of South Asian descent, and also the UK’s first Hindu leader.
Sunak is extremely wealthy. The British media and opposition politicians believe so too. His wife, Akshata Murthy, is an Indian heiress, and the Sunak family’s combined personal fortunes are richer than King Charles III, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Sunak gained popularity early in his career as chancellor. He has been dubbed “Dish Rishi” by the tabloids, but during his time as chancellor he has been dogged by accusations of being out of touch with reality and has faced criticism over the country’s cost of living crisis, long waiting times in Britain’s National Health Service and his controversial policy of forcibly deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
His Call His sudden summer election took many by surprise, including within his own party, with The Economist labelling him “Rishi the Reckless”. Even the announcement of the election was not smooth. He was soaked by pouring rain while calling for votes, He has joked about the prospects for his party, which is widely expected to perform poorly in the election, with some analysts predicting its first electoral defeat in decades.
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Fun fact: Despite his political difficulties, Sunak has at least served longer than his predecessor, Liz Truss, who lasted less than 50 days in office. Ms Truss quickly became unpopular, to the point where she was likened to a head of iceberg lettuce and jokes suggested her political life would be short.
Labour Party Leader: Keir Starmer (age 61)
Keir Starmer leads the opposition Labour Party, which is widely expected to win this year’s election.
Starmer is often portrayed by the media and critics as boring and uncharismatic. Or maybe he’s just politically timid. “Is Keir Starmer too boring to be prime minister?” British magazine The Spectator asked last year. Another commentator called him “the drama-free Starmer”, but argued that his “boringness” might appeal to voters tired of the “chaos” of Conservative governments after 14 years and five prime ministers.
Starmer has stressed that Labour will be a security-focused governing party, protecting borders and the economy and putting more police on the streets to crack down on petty crime.
Mr Starmer was knighted in 2014 for services to criminal justice after serving as director of public prosecutions, one of the country’s most senior criminal prosecutors. He is the first in his family to attend university and has tried to emphasise his working-class background.
Fun fact: Mr Starmer managed to find time for a “pit stop for the Swift campaign” when he attended a Taylor Swift concert in London last month.
Leader of the Reform Party UK: Nigel Farage (age 60)
Nigel Farage was never elected to the British Parliament but has had an enormous influence on British politics over the past few decades, due to his anti-immigration policies popular with right-wing voters and his leading role in the “Brexit” campaign that led to the 2016 referendum that saw Britain leave the European Union.
As leader of the recently founded right-wing Reform UK party, Farage will be running for election to Parliament for the eighth time. And populist politicians are set to win big this time.
His party is much smaller than either Labour or the Conservatives but has attracted attention for the possibility of it stealing Conservative votes and for racist or offensive comments made by some of its supporters and candidates from which the party is trying to distance itself.
Farage recently attracted attention and drew criticism from other politicians for claiming that the West had provoked Russian President Putin into plotting to invade Ukraine.
Former US President Donald Trump has previously described Farage as a “friend”, with Farage boasting that Trump “learned a lot from me”. The two had a high-profile photo-op together shortly after Trump’s election victory in 2016, and Farage interviewed Trump on the right-wing GB News channel this year, testifying to their continuing political friendship.
Fun fact: Last year, Farage appeared on the hit British reality TV show, where he took on challenges that involved living in a jungle camp, sleeping outdoors and eating pizza topped with animal genitalia.
Liberal Democrat Leader: Ed Davey, 58
Ed Davey became leader of the Liberal Democrats, as the party is commonly known in the UK, in 2020. The Liberal Democrats are a minority party and ranked fourth in UK opinion polls ahead of the election.
The party is often seen as competing with the Conservatives and Labour for moderate voters, but this election has led to speculation that the Liberal Democrats and Labour are avoiding targeting each other’s seats in a bid to oust the Conservatives from power.
During the election campaign, Davie became best known for his high-profile media stunts: falling off a paddleboard into a lake, riding a giant rollercoaster, splashing down a waterslide and transforming on television.
“If you do it the traditional way – speaking from a pulpit – you might get a little bit of press, but people aren’t that interested,” he said. “I think a slightly different approach – a little bit of humor and a little bit of emotion – will get people’s attention.”
Fun fact: In 1994, before he entered politics, Mr Davie rescued a woman who had fallen between the tracks and a station platform as a high-speed train was approaching, helping her to safety.
All of England’s major political parties are currently led by men, although two women have recently become prime ministers: Truss and Theresa May of the Conservative Party. As of February, just over a third of members of the House of Commons were women, roughly the same proportion as in the U.S. Congress, according to parliamentary data.
