British voters are picking a new government Thursday, voting in a parliamentary election that is widely expected to bring the Labour Party to power against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.
A jaded electorate is delivering its verdict on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010.
The center-left Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has had a steady and significant lead in opinion polls for months, but its leaders have warned against taking the election result for granted, worried their supporters will stay home.
“We cannot afford five more years under the Conservatives. But change will only happen if you vote Labour,” Starmer said on Wednesday night.
The Conservatives have conceded that Labour appears headed for victory and urged voters not to hand the party a “supermajority.”
In the final days of campaigning Sunak insisted “the outcome of this election is not a foregone conclusion.”
But in a message to voters on Wednesday, Sunak said that “if the polls are to be believed, the country could wake up tomorrow to a Labour supermajority ready to wield their unchecked power.” He urged voters to back the Conservatives to limit Labour's power.
Labour has not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.”
But nothing has really gone wrong in its campaign, either. The party has won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid.
The Sun said in an editorial that "by dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics for the first time since Tony Blair was in No. 10 (Downing St.), Sir Keir has won the right to take charge,” using the formal title for Starmer, who was knighted.
Former Labour candidate Douglas Beattie, author of the book “How Labour Wins (and Why it Loses),” said Starmer's “quiet stability probably chimes with the mood of the country right now.”
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have been plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.
It has all made it harder for Sunak to shake off the taint of political chaos and mismanagement that’s gathered around the Conservatives since then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff held lockdown-breaching parties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. There is widespread dissatisfaction over a host of issues, from a creaking public health care system to crumbling infrastructure.
But for many voters, the lack of trust applies not just to Conservatives, but to politicians in general. Veteran rouser of the right, Nigel Farage, has leaped into that breach and grabbed attention with his anti-immigration rhetoric.
The centrist Liberal Democrats and environmentalist Green Party also want to sweep up disaffected voters.
“I don’t know who’s for me as a working person,” said Michelle Bird, a port worker in Southampton on England’s south coast who was undecided about whether to vote Labour or Conservative. “I don’t know whether it’s the devil you know or the devil you don’t.”
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25 Comments
Moonraker
After all this time? Can anything really be worse for you than 14 years of utter incompetence, corruption and a blatant, sustained attempt to destroy your livelihood through austerity? Punish those Tories, please, Michelle.
Jimizo
There is an argument that Labour with a huge majority is less likely to be radical than one with a narrow one - Starmer is less of hostage to his left wing.
Blair was able to ignore his left wing for the most part.
WoodyLee
A dream come true for Mr. Starmer, he finally did it or soon will.
Gareth Myles
A report that is interesting only for its key omission. Labour are clearly going to win. The major question to be settled is whether Reform will replace the Conservatives as second place in the popular vote. Rather than just being a "Veteran rouser of the right" (a typical left-wing insult), Nigel Farage has appealed to many disaffected traditional Conservative voters who view the party as having failed to deliver on its promises over 14 years in government. The two parties are very close in the polls. If the Conservatives do finish third there is every chance of an implosion of the party as the internal strife of the past two decades moves out into the open.
Jimizo
He’s on the right and he rouses the right. He’s also a veteran.
Where is the insult?
Reform needed some rousing. Richard Tice has the charisma of a pork chop. He makes Starmer look like Elvis.
David Brent
I'll vote for whichever party agrees to keep the Triple Lock in place. I care about nothing else.
albaleo
Indeed. In the US, they have the expression Republican In Name Only (RINO). Blair and his New Labour got the title Conservatives Under New Terminology, or something like that.
Jimizo
Lol. Nice one.
itsonlyrocknroll
Whether one loathes Tony Blair or not, he is Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, leading the labour party to three consecutive general election victories.
Blair surrounded himself in number 10 with a formidable team of advisors and cabinet minsters.
To quote, Tony Blair led Labour out of opposition after 18 years to sweep John Major’s Conservatives from government, with an impressive Labour majority of 179.
Now the polling, no exit poll just yet, Keir Starmer labour are predicting 16 of the current 26 Sunak cabinet ministers will lose their seats.
To bring this into full focus/context that translates to a parliamentary majority of 212 seats.
A total seat projection of 431
What remains of Sunaks conservative party?
101 seats.
No a legacy anyone would wish to be remembered for.
Toblerone
Punish those Tories, please, Michelle.
Anhilate them.
itsonlyrocknroll
Morose? malaise?
I wish my family, would if necessary, hold their noses and vote.
They won't, it is worrying because this will be the first time.
The covid pandemic, maybe the reasoning behind a disconnect with government, present or future.
Financially the family biasness took a devastating hit, we all joined together and helped out.
However, mentally I don't think times a healer.
This election must turn the page one way or the other.
itsonlyrocknroll
I believe that Nicola Sturgeon "Scotland" could have changed this 2024 election beyond recognition.
I am dismayed at Nicola Sturgeon downfall from front line politics. Sturgeon was a vote winner time after time whether you agreed with her pollical methodology or competence.
Labour could well surmount expectations, but I have my doubts, a year from now the nation could well be regret the landslide.
dutch
Its too late for the UK. This election is just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
They abdicated the country long ago.
falseflagsteve
Nope Starmer can reign in his binge drinking while holding power. Whilst studying to be a lawyer his fellow students reported he took huge amiantos of cocaine to work harder. Maybe he’s changed his ways, maybe the stress will turn him back to old habits, who knows, let’s see eh!
u_s__reamer
The Sun said in an editorial that "by dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics for the first time since Tony Blair was in No. 10 (Downing St.), Sir Keir has won the right to take charge,” using the formal title for Starmer, who was knighted.
To be endorsed and anointed by the UK's gutter press, especially the malicious and viciously toxic Sun of Murdoch is just one more disgrace Starmer can chalk up for himself to add to his vile public record as a lawyer. Liverpudlians, quite rightly, wouldn't be seen dead with that rag in their hands - and they won't be fooled by Starmer and his right-wing cabal either, the so-called "Friends of Israel" that tossed out more Jews from the party than in all the years of the party's existence while excoriating them and Corbyn as "anti-semites". For the record, Starmer and his donors have dragged the party to the right of the Tories on some issues - the "center ground" is just the usual eyewash from the Murdoch sewer. The writing is on the wall: the social-climbing "son of a toolmaker" with a chip on his shoulder will be another disastrous incompetent following the gormless self-entitled and self-serving public-school Tories he has always envied and aspired to emulate with his whiny fake posh accent.
falseflagsteve
US Reamer
Didn't realise he was into antisemitism. What’s for sure is the fact that he’s a champagne socialist, hoodwinking the public with his phoney everyman ways. Reminds me a lot of Tony Blair who caused the biggest divide between rich and poor since the 60’s and who was cautioned by police for importuning in the 80’s.
Jimizo
Where,do you read,Stormer,bing drinking and took,cocan?
By the way, as you have an interest in Canadian politics, some are making comparisons with what happened to the Conservatives in Canada in 1993. Do you think there’s anything in this comparison?
Eh? Who abdicated what?
The Sun is trash - even lower than the Daily Mail. Who cares who that garbage endorses.
I’m a Liverpudlian. I don’t know if ‘fooled’ by Starmer is the right word. Starmer’s Labour Party will take every seat in Liverpool.
Better than the alternatives is the way the Liverpudlians I know see him and his party.
What he will deliver if elected remains to be seen.
falseflagsteve
Nowt much will change whoever wins unless it was an extreme party like the Greens or Reform. Guess there could be some chame with the Lib Dem’s, but not even up to date with their policies these days, lol
u_s__reamer
I’m a Liverpudlian. I don’t know if ‘fooled’ by Starmer is the right word. Starmer’s Labour Party will take every seat in Liverpool.
Right you are, but the majority of the huge crowd that came out give Corbyn such an unprecedented enthusiastic welcome when he spoke at St. George's Hall will be holding their nose on election day: they will vote Labour because they want to punish the Tories for all the years they were cruelly exploited and lied to by the nest-feathering mafia in the south. Few will feel any warmth for the shifty "toolmaker's son" whose hapless brand is duplicity and "service" to his personal ambitions.
wallace
Exit polls show Labour with a landslide victory. It will probably be the Tories' greatest loss in their history.
kurisupisu
It was obvious several weeks ago that there would be a massive party change.
The only hope now is for Reform to be able to provide a credible pushback in opposition to Labour’s lack of direction in the future.
Ah_so
Perhaps that's what it takes to win.
The reality is that Tony Blair is the only Labour leader to win a majority since 1966, 58 years ago.
Starmer will join Blair and Wilson as the only Labour leaders to win a majority in the last 60 years.
buchailldana
Ah the party of Boris the narcissistic liar, Truss the economy destroyer and finally little rich boy Rishi get their comeuppance.
The last few years all they've done is react to scandals, in fight and try and scam as much personal money as they can.
Ah_so
In a world where politics is increasingly lurching to the far right, it is good to see a centre-left party win a large majority.
Moonraker
Sadly the UK, beholden to a backward-looking electorate in a ridiculous electoral system, an overly-powerful and haven for disreputable interests finance industry, and a rabidly rightist media, is only heading in one direction whoever manages to assume power. Placating those is all any candidate can really do. It's days are numbered because the root and branch reform it needs will never be implemented.