United Kingdom | Rishi Sunak will hold the election on July 4

Rishi Sunak has so far confined himself to talking about elections in the “second half”. But facing disastrous polls for the Tories, pressure was mounting on the head of government to call voters to the polls, or at least clarify his intentions.

A series of good news on the economic front – growth returning and inflation under control – would have convinced him to finally take the plunge.

The leader of the Conservative government is due to speak later in the afternoon after the cabinet meeting.

A succession of five prime ministers in eight years, after 14 years of Conservative power punctuated by the Brexit vote, appears determined to turn British sides and send Keir Starmer, a 61-year-old former lawyer, to 10 Downing Street.

Labour, positioned on the centre-left, has been pushed from 20% to 25%, with 45% of voting intention ahead of the Conservatives, and the anti-immigration and anti-climate policy party Reform UK (12%) ).

With simple first-past-the-post voting in England's 650 constituencies, such results would mean a huge majority for Labour.

For the “Tories”, who led Boris Johnson to a historic victory in 2019, the predictions are disastrous.

More than 60 of the 344 Conservative MPs have already dropped out, including party stalwarts.

Even in Scotland, separatists, powerful in recent years, are now trailing Labor in the polls.

A succession of crises

Rishi Sunak, elected by his party's MPs in October 2022, was seen as embracing his past as an investment banker and hard-working finance minister to make a serious comeback after the financial crisis caused by Boris Johnson-era scandals and Liz Truss' 49. Days in power.

But his mandate has become a cross over the past two years as Britons appear fed up with the decline in purchasing power, the collapse of public services – particularly the health system, and rising unemployment rates. Interest or even housing crisis. Not to mention the rifts in the majority where the internal struggles were on display.

Despite repeated attempts by Rishi Sunak to renew himself, demonstrate his authority or impress his base with plans aimed at sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, the situation has shown itself impossible to remedy.

In mid-May, he tried to cast himself as a defender in a very election speech, saying that he “believes the next few years are going to be very dangerous.”

For his part, Keir Starmer, elected leader of his party in 2020 to succeed the left-wing Jeremy Corbyn, has formally focused on Labour. He worked to create an image of an efficient and radical leader, prudent at the economic and financial level, and assertive on security and migration issues.

The strategy seems to have paid off: a YouGov poll shows 71% unfavorable views of Rishi Sunak and voters who see him as incompetent, weak and indecisive.

Keir Starmer is the least unpopular politician in the United Kingdom, with 51% unfavorability, with Labor seen as better placed than the Tories to manage all subjects except defence, including taxation, immigration or defence. Areas of conservatives.

“End Labor chaos,” summed up Keir Starmer, launching his priorities for the mid-May elections.