In a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, incumbent Rishi Sunak, revealed that the general election will take place on Thursday, 4 July.
UK PM Rishi Sunak announced a general election to be held on July 4. Sunak said, “I spoke with His Majesty, the King, to request to dissolution of Parliament. The King has granted this request and we will have a general election on the fourth of July” https://t.co/srs4UTHRY3 pic.twitter.com/GLXhkJKK5l
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) May 22, 2024
Rishi Sunak has vowed to “fight for every vote” as he called an early UK election for Thursday, July 4. The surprise move overturned expectations for an autumn poll, leaving MP’s in the Palace of Westminster scratching their heads in disbelief. Suddenly there is so little time. To pull off an entire election campaign requires big money, which some MP’s claim they simply don’t have.
Addressing the nation outside Downing Street, Sunak said it was “the moment for Britain to choose its future,” claiming the Tories could be trusted to lead the country during a time of economic volatility subsequent to global instability. Sunak finally decided to name the date after claiming the economy was improving, which has become the keynote of his election anthem.
Despite of the chatter set forth by his announcement, the date of the election is locked, and all that matters are last-minute strategies to counter opposition. Parliament will now be suspended, before it is formally shut down on Thursday next week ahead of an official five-week election campaign. It means there are only few days to implement outstanding measures to invoke voter enthusiasm.
The UK is divided in 650 areas, called constituencies, and each of these elect one MP to represent local residents at Westminster. The election that is scheduled for July 4, is to elect MPs to the House of Commons. The King asks the leader of the party with the most MPs to become prime minister and to form a government. This is the first general election since 2015 that has not required a vote in Parliament to approve the date, since legislation fixing the time between polls was reversed two years ago.
UK Prepares for a Pivotal General Election : Main Players and Key Issues in Focus
It is Sunak VS Starmer this time
The last UK general election took place in December 2019, when the Conservatives won 365 seats, resulting in a parliamentary majority. Rishi Sunak’s administration has kicked off general election campaign on Thursday, willing to reinstate their position in the highest executive office and add another five years to 14 years of Conservative-led government in the UK.
Not behind is Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition – Labour party. Calling out Tory ruling utterly “chaotic” in an interview broadcasted just hours into Rishi Sunak’s historic general election announcement, Starmer is widely expected to be the face of UK’s next prime minister after transforming Labour since its historic election defeat almost five years ago.
Labour Party’s extraordinary win in the local election that was successful in overthrowing conservative ruling in key battleground areas, spoke volume of the change people of Britain are eager to witness, and that is exactly what Labour party is capitalizing on. In a televised address in front of union flags, the Labour leader said the election gave voters the opportunity to bring about change. “Here it is. The future of the country in your hands,” he said. “On 4 July you have the choice and together we can stop the chaos, we can turn the page, we can start to rebuild Britain and change our country.”
It will be the first July general election since 1945, when the then Labour party leader, Clement Attlee, won a majority of 145 seats. The campaign will also be fought during the Euro 2024 football tournament, with polling day falling just before the quarter finals. In all, it will be a decisive moment for the conservative overhaul whose 14 years in power have been embroiled in Brexit, cuts and chaos.
Reform capitalizing “economic stability”
Be it Rishi Sunak who told his cabinet that falling inflation and net migration figures would reinforce the Tories’ general election message of “sticking to the plan”, or Kier Starmer withering conservative bloc for “chaos”, the recipe for this year’s electoral win is steeped in “economic stability”. This general election will take place at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the cold war. These uncertain times call for a clear plan to chart a course to a secure future. Whoever has the plan and the measures to execute it will win seat at the executive office.
The prime minister referred to the inflation figures as he announced the election date in Downing Street, confirming that annual inflation had fallen to its lowest in almost three years, in a sign he hopes to frame his campaign around a narrative of economic recovery after a period of rising living costs. He added that a fall in inflation, along with the UK’s emergence from recession earlier this year, were “proof that the plan and priorities” he had set out were working.
After Sunak’s announcement, Starmer posted a video on X, saying it was “time for change” and warning that five more years of Tory rule would plunge the country further into economic misery, including NHS waiting times, rising food prices and sewage-hit waters. He said Labour would offer economic and political stability in government and “a politics that treads more lightly on all our lives”, with a long-term and fully funded plan to rebuild Britain.
Despite Sunak’s reassurances and his numeric dictum that outlines economic recovery, many believe it may be the final scene of the Conservatives’ final act, with Sunak having managed to steady the ship while doing nothing to make the party appear more appealing to voters. His policies, analysts contemplate to be more performative than meaningful like the Rwanda deportation scheme, while his rival stage campaigns to reflect economic loopholes still prevalent in the country and his promise to pull people out from it. Kier Starmer said it was “time for change” away from “Tory chaos”.
