Rishi Sunak under pressure
New prime minister in the summer? UK elections on July 4th
Rishi Sunak has been Prime Minister of Great Britain since October 2022
© Justin Tallis / PA Wire / DPA
In Great Britain, the opposition has been urging the Prime Minister for months to finally set a date for the next general election. Now the time has come.
The next general election in Great Britain will take place on July 4th. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced this in London on Wednesday. Uncertain times require a clear plan and courageous action, said the conservative head of government in the pouring rain. He has this plan, unlike the opposition Labor party. Only a Conservative government led by him will stabilize the economy, said Sunak. Commentators spoke of a bold move given Sunak’s Tory party was lagging behind in the polls. In the vote, Sunak’s Conservatives face a devastating defeat against Keir Starmer’s Labor Party.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces severe defeat
According to polls, the Social Democrats are around 20 percentage points ahead of the Prime Minister’s Tory party. If this result occurs in the election, the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, are likely to suffer a historic defeat. Sunak has been in office since October 2022. He is already the third Prime Minister since the previous election in 2019, after Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Unlike in Germany, in the United Kingdom the The Prime Minister is largely free to decide on the election date within a generous period of time. He must give notice at least 25 working days in advance. The opposition has been urging Sunak for months to finally set an election date. They accused him of delaying the election date as long as possible given the poor poll numbers.
Conservatives are losing massive support in Great Britain
Despite several announcements and recently improved economic data, Sunak’s Conservatives have so far failed to close the gap to Labor. Most recently, they lost hundreds of seats and a key mayoral post in local elections in England, as well as a constituency in north-west England in a parliamentary by-election. The right-wing populist Reform UK party, the former Brexit Party, is also putting increasing pressure on the Tories.
Note: This article has been updated.