On Wednesday afternoon Rishi Sunak was still standing in the rain in London, and early on Thursday morning the Prime Minister set off on his first campaign trip; he will appear in all four countries of the United Kingdom in the coming days. The enthusiasm about the guest from Westminster is likely to be limited, however, as Sunak’s Tories are well behind in the polls in all corners of the kingdom.
In Scotland, the joy of elections in July is also dampened by the fact that summer holidays are already underway in most areas. The decision to hold the elections on July 4, which was surprisingly announced on Wednesday, is, said the new Scottish First Minister John Swinney, further proof of “the contempt that the Tories have for Scotland”. Scots who are absent from the election because they are on holiday are the most likely to benefit the Tories, Swinney knows this, and Rishi Sunak knows this too.
Labor relies more on feelings than arguments
In radio interviews on Thursday morning, Sunak made it clear what message Sunak would be carrying around the country for the next six weeks: Inflation has fallen, the Rwanda law has been passed, everything is under control. However, the fact that not even everyone in his own party believes Sunak’s message was evident on Thursday in the often well-informed Tory tabloid in Westminster DailyMail Several MPs complained about the early election date, and there was even talk of forcing Sunak out of office by Friday in order to reverse everything. Even the Tories may not be that crazy, but the mood in the party documented this quite well.
As expected, Labor’s mood was much better the day after Sunak’s rainy speech in Downing Street. It is “time to turn the tide,” said her boss Keir Starmer at an event together with deputy party leader Angela Rayner. And when it comes to the Rwanda law, with which the government wants to deport refugees by plane to the African country, despite protests from human rights activists, Starmer said: “Rishi Sunak doesn’t believe in his Rwanda plan,” which is why he has now called a new election , to prevent voters from watching the Rwanda plan fail.
Labour itself has so far followed the golden rule of letting the government shape its own downfall, which is why the party is wary of going into too much detail. Winning an election on the basis of feelings worked for Tony Blair in 1997, which is why the board and posters that will accompany Keir Starmer everywhere from now on have just one word printed on them: “change”.
The opening of Parliament with the King’s speech is scheduled for 17 July
The other parties also follow this feeling, such as the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, which is currently the third strongest force in the polls behind Labor and the Tories. Reform UK honorary leader Nigel Farage announced in a somewhat strange letter on Thursday that he would not stand in the elections because he considered the US elections to be more important. Chairman Richard Tice, on the other hand, sounded confident that Sunak was just afraid of him, which is why he had already called new elections. The assumption that the small party on the right-wing fringe could be better organized in the fall than it is now is completely wrong. Recently, Reform UK had to admit that it had reprimanded a candidate for inaction, only to discover that the man had died.
Despite the generally great desire in the country for new elections as soon as possible, the dissolution of parliament is now coming abruptly. So abruptly that even Tory MPs complained that they no longer had the opportunity to raise important issues in Parliament. Parliament will be formally dissolved next Thursday and will meet again for the first time five days after the election. The opening of the new parliamentary season with the “King’s Speech” is planned for July 17th. Until then, the palace announced, King Charles will also hold back from public appearances. The stage belongs entirely to Rishi Sunak and Keir in the coming weeks Starmer.