Dina Mahmoud (London)
Voters across the United Kingdom yesterday cast their ballots in a parliamentary election whose initial indications showed the advance of the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, which means a historic exit for the Conservatives from power after continuing to rule since 2010.
46 million British voters went to the polls to renew the seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.
Each representative is elected by the individual system, which gives preference to the main parties.
These indicators reflect the validity of what was previously indicated by opinion polls before the vote, that “Labor” is on its way to winning a number of seats that may be unprecedented in decades, in light of the growing discontent of British voters with the policies of successive conservative governments regarding the most prominent domestic issues, most notably the economy, immigration files, and public services such as health and education, along with the disputes that are plaguing the ruling party, and led to the change of five leaders in less than 10 years, the last of whom was the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who warned the British via the “X” platform of subjecting them to higher taxes “for the rest of their lives.”
King Charles III is expected to ask Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61, a former lawyer, to form a government on Friday after he moved his party back to the centre-left and pledged to restore “seriousness” to power.
Before the polls opened, Starmer, who entered politics just nine years ago, said: “The UK can today open a new chapter. A new era of hope and opportunity after 14 years of chaos and decline.”
Starmer voted in north London yesterday morning with his wife Victoria.
But the available indicators so far have not yet determined the number of seats that Labor candidates are expected to win in the 650-seat House of Commons, and whether their party will be able to secure an absolute majority of 326 seats, which will not make it need to form a new ruling coalition, or whether it will be forced to formulate agreements with smaller parties, especially the Liberal Democrats.
Observers say that the indicators of the expected big victory for “Labor” portend the end of the political career of “Sunak”, who was the youngest to assume the British Prime Minister’s Office in more than two centuries.
Over the past few days before yesterday’s vote, which early indications suggest witnessed a significant turnout, and observers said will open a new page in Britain’s political history, Nigel Farage, leader of the nationalist Reform Party, considered that his party, with its far-right orientations, was now qualified to lead the opposition in the coming period instead of the Conservatives, who have centre-right ideas, indicating the possibility of forming a future alliance between the two parties.
According to the latest YouGov forecast, this result would provide 431 seats for the Labour Party compared to 102 seats for the Conservative Party, a majority not seen in the United Kingdom since 1832.
The Liberal Democrats will win 78 seats and Reform will win three, meaning Nigel Farage will enter parliament after seven failed attempts.
For Rishi Sunak, the fifth Conservative prime minister in 14 years, this election means the end of a very difficult campaign.
However, he tried to take the initiative at the end of last May, by calling for elections in July instead of waiting until the fall as was scheduled. However, time was enough to reveal the weakness of his party and the fragility of his position.
Meanwhile, Sunak, a 44-year-old investment banker and former finance minister, has racked up a number of missteps by cutting short his attendance at D-Day commemorations and delaying his response to doubts within his party about betting on the election date.
His strategy essentially involved accusing Labour of wanting to raise taxes, then warning in the final days of the dangers of a “supermajority” that would leave Labour without a counterforce, thereby acknowledging his party’s defeat.
Labour leader Keir Starmer also wants to appear tough on immigration and move closer to the EU, but not join it. But he has warned that he has no “magic wand,” something that has also been echoed by Britons who polls show have no illusions about the prospects for change.
From lawyer to prime minister
Before becoming leader of the British Labour Party, Keir Starmer held a number of positions, from human rights lawyer to state prosecutor, but it seems that his boundless ambition and enormous potential will push him to the highest political position in Britain.
The 61-year-old leader, named after Labour founder Keir Hardie, is the most working-class leader of the opposition party in decades.
#King #Charles #task #winning #party #leader #forming #government #today
