Keir Starmer’s government has just one per cent more than the fallen Conservative government, according to a poll conducted by British More in Common. “Excellent,” said British expert Yoeri Albrecht at Goedemorgen Nederland about NPO 1.
In the UK elections in July, the Labor Party led by Keir Starmer made big gains. The Conservative Party must leave the field. Of the 650 seats to be allocated in the House of Commons, 412 seats were won by the Labor Party. The number of seats has more than doubled. Only a handful remains of the Conservative Party (the predecessor and collective name of the Conservatives): 121 seats.
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‘What a mess’
“There used to be a two-party system. It is very stable. A long period of the same Prime Minister. “It’s completely over,” Albrecht said. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, six people have been granted protection 10 Downing Streetofficial residence of prime ministers: David Cameron (2010-2016), Theresa May (2016-2019), Boris Johnson (2019-2022), Liz Truss (2022-2022), Rishi Sunak (2022-2024) and now Keir Starmer.
This shows that British politics has been “completely chaotic” for some time. “The best symbol of this chaos is who will last longer: Liz Truss or the head of lettuce. It turned out to be a head of lettuce.”
‘Sunak more popular than Starmer’
A few months after the election, things seemed to be turning around again for the Conservatives. An opinion poll shows that popularity has risen again, almost reaching the level of the current government. “It’s amazing,” Albrecht said. “The Conservative Party has achieved their worst election result in almost 200 years. They thought they would never recover. It turned out very different. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak – who polled worst as Prime Minister – is more popular than Keir Starmer.”
According to Albrecht, this can be explained because “Britain has for some time been maneuvered by its political elites through an almost unnavigable situation, and Brexit is its most important symbol.”
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This is also a problem within the party. “The political elites are fighting each other with fire and sword. This applies especially to the Tory Party, but also to the Labor Party,” said Albrecht. “This is less about party interests, let alone national interests, and more about the personal interests of each new leader, who is trying to reach the top, at the expense of his party, country and government.”
The Tories’ new leader
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party is looking for a new leader. The way party elections are held has recently been reformed. Now party members can also vote. After yesterday, there are still two candidates left: “Kemi Badenoch, a woman of Nigerian descent and Robert Jenrick, a kind of Boris Johnsen light.”
Albrecht refers to comments in The Economistwhich raises the question of whether Conservative Party members are taking Britain’s best interests into account when they vote. “This is a very different part of society. “You have to wonder whether they have a good sense of the national interest,” said Albrecht.
Also read:
Who is the Labor Party leader Keir Starmer, the new British Prime Minister?
By: Vick ten Wolde
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