Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, faces an uncertain future as voters prepare to cast their ballots in a national election on Thursday. Recent polls indicate that the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, is likely to win, potentially ending Sunak’s 20-month term in office.Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, faces an uncertain future as voters prepare to cast their ballots in a national election on Thursday. Recent polls indicate that the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, is likely to win, potentially ending Sunak’s 20-month term in office. Despite campaigning tirelessly in recent weeks, Sunak acknowledges that the outcome is far from certain. He insists that the Conservative Party has made progress during his tenure, but acknowledges the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. The Labour Party, on the other hand, has pledged to invest in infrastructure, grow the economy, and position Britain as a “clean energy superpower.” While its campaign has not generated significant excitement, it has garnered widespread support from the business community and endorsements from conservative newspapers. Political analysts believe that the Conservatives have struggled to overcome the perception of chaos and mismanagement that has plagued the party in recent years. Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, lasted only 49 days in office, and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to resign amidst scandals. Voters across the country express a desire for change, but remain skeptical about the ability of any party to deliver it. Concerns range from a dysfunctional public health system to crumbling infrastructure, and some voters express uncertainty about which party to support. Regardless of the outcome, the election will likely usher in a new era in British politics. The Labour Party’s victory would mark the first time the party has won an election since 2005, while a Conservative win would indicate a significant shift in public opinion.
Rishi Sunak has travelled thousands of miles in recent weeks, but he has not been able to avoid the expectation that his term as British prime minister is coming to an end.
Voters in the United Kingdom will cast their ballots on Thursday in a national election that will judge Sunak’s 20 months in office and the four Conservative prime ministers before him. They are widely expected to do something they haven’t done since 2005: elect a Labour Party government.
During the hectic final two days of campaigning, which saw him visit a food distribution centre, a supermarket, a farm and more, Sunak insisted that “the outcome of this election is not certain.”
“People can see that we have reached a turning point,” said the leader of the Conservative Party, who has been in power since October 2022. “It has been a difficult few years, but it is undeniable that things are better now than they were before.”
But even a last-minute pep talk at a Conservative rally on Tuesday night from former prime minister Boris Johnson – who led the party to a landslide election victory in 2019 – did little to boost the party’s mood. Conservative cabinet minister Mel Stride said on Wednesday that it appeared Labour was heading for an “extraordinary landslide.”
Labour warned against taking the election result for granted, pleading with supporters not to become complacent about polls that have given the party a solid double-digit lead since before the campaign began. Labour leader Keir Starmer has spent the six weeks of the campaign urging voters to take a chance on his centre-left party and vote for change. Most people, including analysts and politicians, expect them to do so.
Labour has failed to set pulses racing with its promises to grow the sluggish economy, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower”.
But nothing has really gone wrong. The party has won the support of large parts of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times.
Former Labour candidate Douglas Beattie, author of the book “How Labour Wins (and Why it Loses),” said Starmer’s “quiet stability probably reflects the mood in the country at the moment.”
“The country is looking for fresh ideas, away from a government that is exhausted and divided,” Beattie said. “So Labour is pushing at an open door.”
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have been plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to a bad start when Sunak was drenched in rain as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St on 22 May. On 6 June, Sunak left early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, missing a ceremony with US President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated by the gambling regulator on suspicion of using inside information to place bets on the election date before it was announced.
All of which has made it harder for Sunak to shake off the taint of political chaos and mismanagement that has gathered around the Conservatives since Johnson and his staff threw lockdown-breaking parties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, shook up a COVID-weakened economy with a package of drastic tax cuts that deepened the cost-of-living crisis, and lasted just 49 days in office. There is widespread discontent over a range of issues, from a dysfunctional public health system to crumbling infrastructure.
But for many voters, the lack of trust extends beyond conservatives to politicians in general. Veteran right-wing firebrand Nigel Farage has stepped into the breach with his Reform UK party, grabbing headlines and voters’ attention with his anti-immigration rhetoric.
The centrist Liberal Democrats and the environmentalist Green Party also want to draw disaffected voters away from the larger parties.
Voters across the country say they want change, but they are not optimistic that change will come.
“I don’t know which is for me as a working person,” said Michelle Bird, a dockworker in Southampton on the south coast of England who was not sure whether to vote Labour or Conservative. “I don’t know if it’s the devil you know or the devil you don’t know.”
Conner Filsell, a young office worker in the suburbs of London, would like to have his own roof.
“I still live at home. I would like to have my own place, but the way things are now, that’s just not possible,” he said.
Lise Butler, senior lecturer in modern history at City University of London, said there were signs that this was “an election of change in which the Conservatives are being punished.” But she said that if Starmer wins, “the next few years could be … challenging.”
