Ennui is what you sense when you reach London, barely days away from the general election scheduled on July 4. In India, even if you are not a political newshound, its highly improbable that you will miss the political buzz, from there coming to the United Kingdom, that too in the middle of a general campaign is a rude shock.
Those screaming posters, huge gatherings, loud sound bites and political chatter at every corner offering unsolicited analysis and political equations are replaced by busy looking streets, people glued to their mobiles, posters being replaced by barely visible small signage’s and placards placed in gardens or peeping on the window and no one offering any free view, forget unsolicited.
Flip through the headlines, talk to a few acquaintances and you don’t need to be a pollster to gauge that a change of guard is on the cards. Even the staunch Conservative supporters will tell you that the Tories are on their way out after 14 long years in power.
Fourteen years and five Prime Ministers later, it seems that the Conservative Prime Minister of Indian-origin, Rishi Sunak, will pave way for Labour leader Keir Starmer to be the new occupant of No 10 Downing Street.
The Stanford MBA Prime Minster to his credit somehow managed to keep the conservatives in power after Liz Truss’s dismal 49-day long Premiership, but isn’t a favourite to keep his party in power.
People are tired of the Tories, Britain’s public services are falling apart, despite a temporary relief from record high inflation, the economy isn’t in good shape, 75 sitting Conservative MP’s have opted out of the contest and quite a few who are contesting aren’t mentioning Conservative on their campaign leaflets.
Boris Johnson bombed after PartyGate where it emerged that the Prime Minister partied at No. 10 while people were forced to follow strict lockdown rules during the Covid pandemic, Liz Truss tanked as observers feel she trashed the economy despite resigning from office on day 50, and since October 25, 2022, Sunak has been scattering around to somehow keep his part in power.
His efforts look set to go in vain as Sunak isn’t the favourite to win the people’s mandate and despite many cracks in his armour and no concrete way forward, Starmer looks set to win the Premiership. His former boss Jeremy Corbyn, who lost the race for the Prime Minister’s post to Theresa May is contesting as an independent from Islington North a seat that he has held since 1983.
One of the most talked about topics when it comes to Starmer is his flip flop on the campaign Corbyn led during the last election. For many, his criticism now of Corbyn reflects badly on his judgment.
Sans any concrete plan to get Britain back on growth track, Starmer, who isn’t a typical Labour Left-leaning leader, is described by many Labour supporters as a Conservative wearing a Labour sticker.
Despite all this, the big worry for the party in power isn’t their arch-rivals but someone who is yet to make his parliamentary debut.
The Right-leaning conservatives are losing out their voters quickly to commodities trader-turned-politician Nigel Farage, who was instrumental in Britain’s withdrawal from the EU or Brexit in 2016 and is seeking his debut in Westminster as member of Parliament after seven failed attempts.
An ultra-Right leaning politician, disenchanted with Tories, Farage isn’t immigration friendly, doesn’t bat an eyelid before blaming migrants for all the woes of Britain, makes unrealistic promises without any concrete solutions and is eyeing Conservative party vote shifting towards him after July 4 and nursing plans to occupy No.10 in 2029.
As political pundits put it, the thing to watch out on July 4 isn’t the scale of Labour victory but to see whether or not Farage makes it through to Parliament from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. With so much brewing, albeit silently, British politics look set for a turnaround.
