Britain’s PM Sunak, Labour rival Keir Starmer hit campaign trail as election race begins

LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Labour Party rival Keir Starmer are kicking off their election campaigns in earnest on May 23, each arguing that only they can snap Britain out of its economic and political malaise.

Mr Sunak, whose Conservatives have trailed Labour by about 20 percentage points in polls since he became prime minister in October 2022, shocked and angered many in his party when he gambled by calling a July 4 election, months earlier than expected.

He argued on May 23 that the economy is turning a corner, and that he has a plan to tackle illegal immigration.

But with prices in the shops up 21 per cent in the last three years and the National Health Service buckling under record waiting times, it may be hard to persuade voters that Britain is on the right track.

“Even though there’s more work to do, and I know it will take time for you to see the benefits, the plan is working,” Mr Sunak told voters at a campaign event with workers in central England.

The former investment banker announced his decision in the pouring rain in Downing Street on May 22, having to shout over protesters blaring the song Things Can Only Get Better, an anthem associated with Labour’s crushing 1997 election victory under Mr Tony Blair that ended the last long period of Conservative rule.

Mr Sunak also admitted on May 23 that the first flights sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, a flagship policy that is tangled in legal challenges, would not start before the vote.

He did receive one boost, however, when Mr Nigel Farage, a former Brexit campaigner, said he would not seek election for Reform, likely blunting the appeal of the right-wing party and reducing its ability to eat into the Conservatives’ voter base.

At stake is control of the world’s sixth-largest economy, which has endured years of low growth and high inflation.

The British economy is still battling to make a success of its 2016 decision to exit the European Union, even as it is slowly recovering from the twin shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and an energy price spike caused by the war in Ukraine.

That backdrop makes it one of the most important electoral battlegrounds.

Opinion polls show that voters want change, even if they are not hugely enthused by Mr Starmer and his Labour Party, after 14 years of Conservative government marked by unprecedented levels of political turmoil and so-called culture war issues.

Coffee shop worker Kitty McMurray, on her way to work, said Britain needed an election because it felt like everything was falling apart. “Bring it on,” the 29-year-old said.

Mr Starmer, a 61-year-old former lawyer, told voters at an event in Gillingham, south-east England, that he wanted to renew, rebuild and reinvigorate Britain. He focused on deprivation and the invisible barriers that prevent many from improving their lot.

Referencing children who live in inner-city areas where big corporations such as Google have a presence, he said: “They cannot imagine themselves ever making that journey from their school to those jobs. It’s a few hundred yards.”

Mr Starmer is a former chief prosecutor who has pulled Labour’s politics back to the centre ground after it lurched to the left under his predecessor, Mr Jeremy Corbyn.

“Labour will stop the chaos, turn the page and get Britain’s future back,” he said in an early campaign message to party members, describing the election as “the fight of our lives”.

“This is the moment we’ve been working towards. We must come together to beat the Tories and deliver a Labour government to change Britain for the better.”

If Labour wins the election, it would end 14 years of Conservative government, and Britain, once known for its political stability, will have had six prime ministers in eight years for the first time since the 1830s.

While the electioneering gets under way, activity in Parliament is expected to pick up too as the government works out which of the pieces of legislation currently in process will be rushed through, and which will fall by the wayside.

Laws currently under discussion include Mr Sunak’s plan to impose some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules by banning anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes. REUTERS