Millions of British voters go to the polls on Thursday to elect a new House of Commons and a new government. voters They will elect 650 MPs representing as many constituencies, and the leader of the party that wins the most seats will become prime minister.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are expected to lose to the main opposition group, the centre-left Labour Party, after 14 years of Conservative rule under five different leaders. The Conservatives and Labour typically dominate British politics under Britain’s electoral system, which makes it difficult for smaller parties to win parliamentary representation.
However, the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the Scottish National Party and the Greens, among others, are also in the race.
Here’s a look at the parties, who leads them and what they promise:
Conservatives
Who is your leader? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Sunak, 44, came to power in October 2022, inheriting the Conservative Party and a failing economy after Liz Truss’s brief tenure. He graduated from Oxford, worked as a hedge fund manager at Goldman Sachs and is Britain’s first black leader and the first Indian to become prime minister. Sunak has stressed that he is the man who has turned things around, but critics accuse him of lacking political judgement and being out of touch with ordinary voters.
How many seats did they win in the last elections? What do they promise? A stronger economy and tax cuts of around £17 billion (about $21.4 billion) a year. Increase public health spending above inflation and increase military spending to the tune of £1.5 billion. 2.5% of GDP by 2030. The party says this will be funded by savings from cracking down on tax evasion and cuts in social benefits. The party also promises to drastically reduce immigration and bring some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Labor Lawyers
Who is your leader? Keir Starmer. The 61-year-old former lawyer and chief prosecutor for England and Wales is the favourite to be Britain’s next prime minister. He is a pragmatic centrist who has worked to move the party away from the more openly socialist policies of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, and to quell internal divisions. Critics say he is boring and unambitious, but Labour has gained popularity under him.
How many seats did they win in the last elections? What do they promise? To promote “wealth creation” Boosting investment and improving British infrastructure such as railways as part of a 10-year infrastructure strategy. Creating a state-owned clean energy company to increase energy security, paid for by a tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas giants. Taxing private schools to pay for thousands of new teachers in state schools. Cutting record waiting times on NHS care.
Liberal Democrats
Who is their leader? Ed Davey. He was first elected as an MP in 1997. He was an economics researcher and served as Energy and Climate Change Secretary during an uneasy coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats between 2012 and 2015. Davey became leader of the centre-left group in 2019 and was not a household name until this election, when he caught the media’s attention with several eye-catching performances, such as jumping off a crane on a bungee cord to urge voters to “take a leap of faith.”
How many seats did they win in the last elections? What do they promise? Improve Britain’s overstretched health and welfare systems, including free nursing services at home. Invest in renewable energy and home insulation. Put restrictions on companies dumping waste into water. Lower the voting age to 16. Return to the EU single market.
Reforming the United Kingdom
Who is your leader? Nigel Farage, a combative politician who prides himself on disrupting British politics, has been a major headache for the Conservatives since he announced he would stand. The 60-year-old populist has long been a divisive figure, with Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. He was a big proponent of Brexit and now attracts many disenchanted Tory voters with his promises to reduce immigration and focus on immigrants. “British values”. Farage has stood for parliament seven times but has never won.
How many seats did they win at the last election? None, although the party did gain its first MP this year when former Conservative deputy leader Lee Anderson defected to Reform.
What do they promise? Freeze the entire “non-essential immigration” and ban international students from bringing dependent family members into the country. Abandon the European Convention on Human Rights so that asylum seekers can be deported without intervention by rights courts. Abandon net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets to lower energy bills.
Scottish National Party (SNP)
Who is your leader? John Swinney became the SNP’s third leader in just over a year in May. He has sought to bring stability to the party, which has been in turmoil since Scotland’s veteran first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, abruptly resigned last year amid a campaign finance investigation that led to criminal charges against her husband. Swinney has been with the party for a long time, having joined at age 15 and leading it from 2000 to 2004.
How many seats did they win in the last elections? What are they promising? Swinney has said that if his party wins a majority of seats in Scotland, he will try to open negotiations on Scottish independence with the London-based British government. He wants to return to the European Union and the European single market. He has also called for boosting public health funding, scrapping Britain’s nuclear deterrent deployment in Scotland and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Green party
Who are your leaders? Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay. Denyer, a mechanical engineer, worked in wind energy before joining the Greens in 2011. She is 38 and served as a local politician for nine years in the city of Bristol in south-west England. In 2021 she was elected co-leader of the Greens alongside Ramsay, another local politician who has experience in environmental charities.
How many seats did they win in the last elections? What are they promising? A gradual phase-out of nuclear power and a move to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. The Greens have pledged £24bn ($30bn) a year to insulate homes and £40bn ($50.5bn) a year to invest in the green economy, to be funded by a carbon tax, a new wealth tax on the very rich and an increase in income tax on millions of high-income earners.
It may interest you
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
