LONDON, June 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain goes to the polls next week in a general election that looks set to end 14 years of Conservative rule marked by economic turbulence, Brexit, political scandal and upheaval.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s right-wing Tories are expected to be dumped out of power, with discontent appearing widespread about their record in government and the state of the country.
Sunak has been unable to narrow a gaping 20-point polling deficit to Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour party, during a largely lacklustre election campaign.
Some predictions put the Conservatives on course for the worst results in their 200-year history and forecast a record majority for Labour, last in office under Gordon Brown in 2010.
One survey even suggested that Sunak could become the first sitting UK prime minister to lose his own seat.
Voting begins at 7:00 am next Thursday and runs until 10:00 pm, with official results trickling in late into the night and early morning.
Increasingly, the electorate is tipped to send a message to the Conservatives that their time is up, with some Tories already indicating that they can only mitigate the size of Labour’s win.
David Cameron brought the Conservatives to power in 2010, imposing tough austerity measures in the aftermath of the global financial crash, hitting the funding of public services — and people’s pockets.
Cameron then gambled on appeasing anti-European right-wingers in the party by calling a vote on European Union membership that backfired on him when the public narrowly voted to leave in 2016.
Brexit and what form it should take claimed the premierships first of Cameron, who backed “remain”, then his successor Theresa May, who failed to get her divorce deal sanctioned by parliament.
Boris Johnson, who took over, managed it with an 80-seat majority following a snap election in 2019, but he was brought down by his handling of the Covid crisis, and claims of corruption and cronyism.
Liz Truss’s brief tenure in September and October 2022 ended after her unfunded tax-cutting plans spooked the markets and crashed the pound.
Sunak, the party’s fifth leader and prime minister since 2010, has tried to revive its fortunes, vowing to bring down sky-high inflation and cut record levels of immigration.
But he has struggled to quell public anger at the higher cost of living, frustration with lengthy waits for health appointments, pared-back public services and creaking infrastructure. — NNN-AGENCIES
