Dina Mahmoud (London)
The battle for the legislative elections scheduled for July 4 began in Britain yesterday, amid expectations that the labor opposition will win power after the “Conservatives” ruled the country for 14 years. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (44 years old), the leader of the “Conservative” Party, confirmed that he wants to “fight For every vote,” when he announced yesterday, Wednesday, suddenly and in the rain, that elections would be held at the beginning of the summer and not in the fall as observers had expected.
Sunak set the headlines of his campaign, presenting himself as someone who takes “bold measures” to ensure the security of Britons, and who has a “clear plan” that is beginning to bear fruit, in the face of the Labor Party, which has been portrayed as equivalent to “a return to square one” and offering “a return to square one.” “Excuse me” for irregular immigrants.
In a televised speech delivered in front of his headquarters located at 10 Downing Street in the heart of London, the British Prime Minister revealed that he had asked King Charles III to dissolve Parliament, in preparation for general elections, which it was previously expected would not be held before next October or November. Sunak considered that Britain now faces the moment “in which it chooses its future… in order to decide whether we want to build on the progress that has been achieved, or risk returning to square one, where there is no plan and no certainty.”
He added that the elections will be held at a time when the world is facing risks that it has not witnessed since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. He also defended his party’s record in governance during recent years, during which he said that Britain had gone through one of its harshest periods since the curtain came down on World War II, pointing in this context to the Corona epidemic crisis and its consequences, in addition to the Ukrainian crisis, which is still ongoing. While the British Prime Minister, in his speech delivered in the middle of rainy weather, acknowledged the shortcomings in the policies of the government he has led since October 2022, at the same time, he expressed his pride in what he called the “bold measures” taken by his government.
In this regard, Sunak refers to data that had been announced, revealing that inflation rates in Britain had declined sharply, reaching their lowest levels in about three years. These data showed that inflation fell from 3.2% to 2.3% last April, bringing it close to the level sought by the Bank of England, which is around 2%.
Sunak considered these indicators a sign that his government’s economic and financial plans were bearing fruit, saying that the British economy was “now growing more quickly than anyone expected,” matching what is happening in that regard in countries such as the United States, Germany, and France.
The British Prime Minister addressed his citizens, warning that there were “times of uncertainty” looming on the horizon, and stressed that his government had a “clear plan” in this regard, without neglecting to criticize his rival, Labor leader Keir Starmer, accusing him and his party of lacking… Center-left leaning – for “anything they can offer.”
This appeared to be an explicit call to the British to renew confidence in the “Conservatives”, who are trailing in the opinion polls in front of the “Labour” by more than 20 points, which enhances the possibility that the upcoming elections will result in a defeat for the ruling party, opening the door for the Labor opposition to return to power for the first time. 14 years ago. Minutes after Sunak’s speech, the leader of the Labor Party confirmed that the announcement of the election date represented what he described as “the moment that the country needed and was waiting for,” saying that the time had come for change, and that a vote for his party was a “vote for stability.” Starmer said that Labor has a long-term plan to “rebuild Britain and change the country,” pledging to achieve economic growth. Observers considered that the sudden announcement of holding elections less than 45 days from now constitutes a “bold and perhaps reckless gamble on the part of Sunak,” who appears to be seeking to benefit from the recent data on declining inflation rates, before the positive atmosphere it spread diminishes. On the British street.
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