Historic legislative elections in Britain today

London (Agencies)

Britain is turning a historic page today, as the centre-left Labour Party is expected to inflict a crushing defeat on the Conservatives, who have been in power for 14 years, in legislative elections that coincide with the rise of the far right in the European Parliament elections.
After six weeks of campaigning, and 14 years of Conservative rule that saw five prime ministers, four of whom were forced to resign, the country is expected to vote today for the “centre-left”, and bring Keir Starmer to Downing Street.
After difficult years during which the British lived through Brexit, the economic and social crisis, the spread of “Covid”, scandals and political instability with three Conservative prime ministers in 2022 and five since 2010, voters are looking for only one thing: change.
The British are ready to give a chance to Keir Starmer, the 61-year-old Labour leader, a former human rights lawyer who served as attorney general before being elected an MP nine years ago. He is expected to become prime minister because the post is usually held by the leader of the political party that wins the most seats in a parliamentary election.
Keir Starmer has been very cautious, keen to maintain his party’s 20-point lead over the Conservatives. His promises have been limited, as he has already warned that “Labour does not have a magic wand”.
“The first thing I will do (when I take over as prime minister) will be to change the mentality of politics, which must be a politics that serves the people,” he said the day before yesterday, recalling the many scandals that have plagued the Conservatives in recent years. “The country first, then the party,” he added, listing the economy, the deterioration of the public health service and immigration as among the main concerns of voters.
The British nationalist Reform Party and its leader Nigel Farage, who is trying for the eighth time to be elected to the House of Commons, have made the issue of immigration the focus of their battle and linked it to all the problems that Britain suffers from, such as the lack of housing, the difficulty of receiving medical treatment, and the lack of job opportunities for some young people.
Farage entered the race last month, which immediately boosted his party’s voting intentions, with it now trailing the Conservatives, and even ahead of them in some opinion polls.
Farage, a 60-year-old former MEP who admires former US President Donald Trump and has been a consistent supporter of Brexit, has a good chance of being elected in Clacton-on-Sea, a coastal town east of London.
This year, the British Reform Party is fielding more than 600 candidates, with 650 constituencies up for grabs. The party wants to break through the strongholds of the Conservatives, who are exhausted by internal divisions.
For his part, Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister for twenty months, has made every effort to convince his citizens not to give a “blank cheque to the Labour Party.”
Sunak has announced tax cuts and promised better days, while also threatening massive tax increases under a Labour government.
But all this did not give the desired results, and the “Conservatives” may face the worst defeat in their history. This campaign did not receive wide attention.
Rishi Sunak, a 44-year-old millionaire of Indian origin, said: “I will fight for every vote, until the end of the election campaign.”
Senior Conservative figures, led by Rishi Sunak, have urged voters not to give Labour a “supermajority” in the House of Commons.
“We are on the eve of probably the biggest (Labour) win we have ever seen,” Labour Secretary Mel Stride, a key backer of Sunak’s campaign, told Times Radio yesterday.
“It is over and we must prepare for the reality of opposition and the frustration it leaves behind,” wrote former home secretary Suella Braverman in the Telegraph.
On the eve of the British general election, the Labour Party appears more likely to win than ever, as it leads voting intentions and has enjoyed unprecedented support from The Sun newspaper since the Tony Blair era.
The Sun newspaper, owned by the family of Australian-American billionaire Rupert Murdoch, wrote yesterday: “It’s time for change, it’s time for the Labor Party.”