Rishi Sunak’s party suffers crushing defeat in UK election
Photo: REUTERS.
British media have published the results of the first rounds of the parliamentary elections held today in the kingdom. The official results are expected to be published on Friday morning and will not differ much from the preliminary results.
All polls conducted among voters on the eve of the election gave victory to Labour, which was aiming to return to power for the first time since 2010. Moreover, they predicted a triumphant majority in parliament – more than 400 seats. According to the same polls, Labour leader Keir Starmer on the eve of the election was twice as popular as Sunak: 44% of voters approved of his actions.
And indeed, the Conservative Party, led by the current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, apparently suffered a crushing defeat: according to the exit groups, the votes will provide the Labour Party with 410 seats. There are 650 seats in the British Parliament and 326 are needed to obtain a simple majority. The Conservatives will retain about 130 seats.
The Leave groups promise 13 seats in parliament to the right-wing Reform UK party. Its leader, Nigel Farage, is known, first of all, for his position in the North East Military District: he believes that the reason for its creation was the expansion of NATO and the EU to the east. Farage returned to politics only recently, immediately after Sunak called for early parliamentary elections. And the party itself (formerly the Brexit Party) was founded by him in 2019 and is taking part in parliamentary elections for the first time. Farage is famous for the fact that under his leadership another political group, the UK Independence Party, won the national elections in 2014, and this was the first time since 1906 that, in addition to Labour and the Conservatives in the UK, another party was included in the list of winners.
Farage is pleased with the debut: he has always said that the current Reform UK election is just a prelude to the next one, which is due to be held in 2029.
In addition to Reform UK, the Greens and several regional parties tried to compete with Labour and the Conservatives. The Conservatives have lost confidence due to the impoverishment of the British people, the decline in the quality of public services (primarily the health system), rising prices and Brexit. And also due to various kinds of scandals, the heroes of which were, among others. and the heads of government Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Theresa May.
Now, the clear victory of the Labour Party will secure the post of Prime Minister for the leader of this party, Keir Starmer.
Starmer is 61 years old. A lawyer by profession, the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service is known for not making harsh statements. Before the election, he promised the British people to “strengthen border security, reduce hospital queues, reduce taxes and improve relations with Europe.”
Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020. As leader, she achieved some success and in Britain the Labour Party was no longer perceived as unpatriotic and unconcerned about security issues. She supports Ukraine. Married, she has a son, Toby, and a daughter (her name has never been revealed to the general public).
