Maja Smiekovska/Reuters
British Chancellor Rishi Sunak gave a soaked speech outside 10 Downing Street in London on May 22nd.
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday night that a general election will be held on July 4. The Prime Minister’s Conservative Party is struggling to extend its 14-year reign.
Speaking outside Downing Street, Mr Sunak said he had informed Charles III of the unusual summer poll and sounded the starting gun for a six-week campaign that is almost universally expected to end with the collapse of the Conservative government. .
“Now is the time for Britain to choose its future,” Mr Sunak said, speaking in a pouring rain. He also attacked his opponents, saying a vote for Labour would put Britain “at risk of going back to square one”, but acknowledged that “we cannot and will not claim we have it all right”.
Chancellor Sunak has long resisted calls to reveal details of his plans as a vote must be held by January 2025, but the falling inflation figures published early on Wednesday came as the backdrop for his announcement.
The move will be welcomed by Keir Starmer’s thriving Labour party, which has seen its support soar in the polls and is presenting itself as a reformed, moderate party poised to take power.
Following the announcement, Buckingham Palace announced that the British royal family would postpone any official business that “may be a distraction or divert them from the campaign.” The King and Queen’s D-Day commemorations in June are expected to go ahead as planned.
In his speech, Mr Sunak laid out external factors such as coronavirus and the war in Ukraine as the backdrop to Britain’s economic woes, saying the two factors were combining to create “the most difficult period since the Second World War”. Stated.
But they battled heavy rain that soaked their suits within minutes and were nearly drowned out by loudspeakers outside the gates of Downing Street, where protesters blasted D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better,” the theme song of Labour’s election campaign that led to its 1997 election victory.
Mr Starmer was swift to respond to Mr Sunak’s announcement, with the opposition leader telling an indoor press conference: “Tonight the Prime Minister has finally announced the next general election.”
He characterized voting as “a chance to change your future, your community and your country for the better.”
“It’s going to feel like a long campaign, I’m sure of that, but no matter what else is said or done, the opportunity for change is what this election is about,” he said.
Current opinion polls are looking bad for Sunak, with Labour starting elections with an average lead of about 20 points and the Conservatives often closer to third-party opponents such as the Reform Party or the Liberal Democrats than to Labour.
Translated into predicted parliamentary seats, these figures suggest either a comfortable Labour victory or a possible electoral annihilation of the Conservatives.
Mr Sunak said his shrewd campaign could deliver Labour’s dramatic upset and extend the Conservative government that began in 2010 and has overseen austerity, Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Are expected.
Carl Cote/Getty Images
Mr Sunak returned to work on Wednesday after announcing the election date as July 4.
He is the fifth Conservative Party leader to serve in that period, replacing the ill-fated former leader Liz Truss. Former leader Truss’ disastrous tenure collapsed just six weeks after it began, exacerbating the financial difficulties plaguing Britain.
Mr Sunak’s party is likely to make tackling illegal immigration a central focus of its campaign – recent measures to forcibly return some asylum seekers to Rwanda only became law last month, and the first flights could depart during the election campaign.
But Labor will seek to highlight the government’s struggles to ease rising prices, Britain’s overstretched health service and the sordid scandals that have tarnished the Conservative Party’s reputation among large swathes of British voters. Dew.
Smaller parties could upend the two-party system even if a return to power is virtually impossible. The new anti-immigration Reform Party and the centrist Liberal Democrats are vying to challenge Mr Sunak in some of his party’s historical strongholds, complicating his efforts to stay in power.
North of the border, the pro-independence Scottish National Party hopes to thwart Labor’s challenge and regain dominance in Scottish politics, despite a period of instability and the recent appointment of its third leader in 15 months. There is.
The Conservative Party, led by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, won a healthy majority in the last UK-wide vote in December 2019, and the Conservative Party won a healthy majority in the last UK-wide vote in December 2019. He promised to push forward with the problems that have plagued him.
But Mr Johnson’s premiership collapsed in a series of scandals, paving the way for Mr Sunak, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to emerge as the leading candidate for the leadership.
Dozens of Tory MPs, including former cabinet ministers and former prime minister Theresa May, announced they would not seek re-election, adding to the sense that the end of the party’s time in power is near.
However, recent election and referendum campaigns have proven volatile, with the Conservatives publicly still hopeful of success, pointing to mixed levels of enthusiasm for Labour’s proposals. ing.
Voting will take place in all 650 constituencies in the UK on Thursday, July 4, and counting will continue overnight, with the two main parties aiming to reach the 326 votes needed for a majority.
As soon as this mark is crossed a government will be formed and will immediately take power pending the symbolic approval of King Charles III.
This story has been updated.
