Category Archives: general election

This Is How Brits Really Think The Tories Have Changed UK Life Over The Last 14 Years

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Most Brits think the Conservatives have made life worse – in many ways – since getting into power in 2010, a new poll has found.

In yet another blow to PM Rishi Sunak as his campaign continues to flounder, YouGov has revealed that that two thirds (67%) of Brits disapprove of the government’s record.

Three quarters (73%) think the UK is a worse place than it was 13 years ago, too – and that includes a majority (59%) of 2019 Tory voters.

In fact, even 61-68% of those planning to vote Tory in the next election agreed.

Of the 2,040 adults polled between 29 and 30 May, only 8% think the UK is better now, and 11% think life is pretty much the same.

YouGov also asked participants what they thought about how the government has handled 21 different topics, from social issues to healthcare.

The respondents were most united in their reaction to how the cost of living has changed over the last 14 years – 85% said the Tories had made it worse.

This was closely followed by the NHS, which 84% thought had worsened under the Conservatives.

The poll offered similarly bleak reactions over what has happened to immigration system and the economy in the last decade and a half with 78% saying both areas had worsened.

This will be an especially disappointing result for those in the Conservative headquarters considering the party has been pledging to reduce the number of migrants since David Cameron got into office.

The party has often portrayed itself as the one which is best at managing the economy, too – but it seems that reputation is now in tatters.

In fact, more than half of participants thought the Tories had made 15 of the 21 issues worse – including housing, crime and policing, Britain’s standing in the world and standards in public life.

A majority also had a poor opinion of what’s happened to the health of British democracy, the tax system, transport, schools, the state of the armed forces, the welfare system and local government services.

More than half (57%) said they thought Rishi Sunak was a poor or terrible prime minister, and only 13% thought he was a great or a good one.

YouGov is not the only one predicting a pretty bleak turnout for Sunak at next month’s election, either.

On Tuesday, Survation’s mega poll predicted the Conservatives face electoral wipeout at the general election, with just 71 MPs in a potentially “extinction level event” ahead.

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‘Are You Proud?’ Laura Kuenssberg Skewers Minister With Brutal Reminder Of Tory NHS Legacy

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Laura Kuenssberg slammed the Conservatives’ handling of the NHS this morning and asked the health secretary Victoria Atkins if she is “proud” of the huge waiting lists in England.

Rishi Sunak vowed at the start of 2023 to cut NHS waiting lists – but he admitted only in February that his government has failed with that pledge.

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC host presented Atkins with a graph showing just how much waiting times have actually increased since the Conservatives took over in 2010.

It shows that even before Covid and before the NHS strikes, the waiting lists for hospital treatment in England were already rising.

Kuenssberg's chart showing how waiting times for hospital treatment in England have increased
Kuenssberg’s chart showing how waiting times for hospital treatment in England have increased

Kuenssberg said: “As our viewers can see, since the Conservatives have been in charge, waiting lists have gone up and up and up.

“Are you proud of that?

“Because to many of our viewers, everybody knows in their real life somebody who is waiting, somebody who is in pain.”

The health secretary replied by saying how Covid made waiting times worse, but Kuenssberg hit back: “This was happening before the pandemic!”

The BBC journalist added: “The point is people do not feel reassured by statistics.

“They feel upset that they are waiting longer.

“They feel upset that over a year of many years, many believe the level of healthcare that they can expect to get has declined despite record amounts of cash going in.”

Atkins just said waiting lists have fallen since she got the job in November.

Kuenssberg also pressed the health secretary over GP services and pharmacies.

She said: “Today you’re announcing 100 new GP surgeries.

“But we’ve checked the figures and you’ve shut 450 since 2013, so aren’t you trying to fix your own mistakes?”

Atkins said that government is funding new GP surgeries, refurbishing 150 others and expanding pharmacy services to free up doctor appointments.

But Kuenssberg noted that funding for pharmacies is down a third on 2015 and more than 1,000 of them have shut.

She continued: “In both of these cases, it might be all very well that you’re promising this now but I think it’s going to sound to a lot of people like you’re just trying to unpick the mistakes the Tories have already made.”

She claimed that the Tories are replacing services in the UK which have “disappeared” and added: “Voters know that, they see that in their own communities, so why should they trust the promises you’re making to them now?”

The minister said the Tories have already exceeded their target from the 2019 general election with 62 million GP appointments made in the last year.

Kuenssberg then cornered the minister over Boris Johnson’s previous promise to open 40 new hospitals.

The journalist said only 11 of them would be deemed new hospitals, and only a handful of those have actually opened.

She added: “So why would people believe your promises now when that huge promise that Boris Johnson used to get the crowd to chant, that has not been kept?”

Atkins replied: “That promise was made in 2019, the pandemic hit us pretty much immediately after that.”

She added that they got building as soon as they could, with 18 currently in construction.

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‘He’s Lost The Plot’: Tories Turn On Sunak As They Brace For Election Massacre

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It is perhaps fitting that the Conservative Party is ending this parliament just as it has spent much of the previous five years: bitterly divided.

Reactions to Rishi Sunak’s shock decision to call a snap election range from astonishment to anger to grim resignation.

“No one sees the reason for the rush and feel like he has lost the plot,” one senior Tory told HuffPost UK. “None of us are ready for this.”

Support was also far from unanimous as the prime minister told his cabinet on Wednesday afternoon that he had decided to go to the country on July 4.

But the PM’s mind was made up, despite the fact that Labour remain 20 points ahead in the opinion polls and election experts all agree that the Tories are heading for a historic defeat.

One minister said most Tory MPs are simply resigned to their fate, and hit out at his malcontented colleagues.

He said: “In the tearoom I see cheerful stoicism all round. I suppose the whingers are the ones who prefer a leadership contest to a general election.”

Another MP was happily laying bets that the Conservatives will still emerge as the largest party in the Commons.

“I’m glad the phoney war is finally over and we can get on with the election,” the MP said. “We will fight for every vote.”

A senior Tory aide summed up the schizophrenic nature of MPs’ response to Sunak opting for a summer poll.

“A week ago they all wanted it over and done with and now they are furious it hasn’t gone longer,” he said. “I strongly suspect vast majority are resigned to fate and don’t feel that strongly about it.”

The sight of a bedraggled Sunak announcing the election date in the pouring rain outside No.10 has summed up the Tory campaign so far.

That gaffe was further compounded on Friday when the PM inexplicably visited Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, thereby linking him in voters’ minds with the world’s most famous sinking ship.

Nevertheless, Tory bosses want to run a presidential campaign, urging voters to stick with the man who bankrolled the government’s response to the pandemic rather than take a risk with the untried Keir Starmer.

The problem with that approach, however, is that voters already seem to have decided that they want Sunak and the rest of his government ejected from office as soon as possible.

Chris Hopkins, political research director at pollsters Savanta, said: “The prime minister already had a mountain to climb in this election, with a massive polling deficit and Labour leading them on every policy issue.

“On top of this, Sunak himself is hugely unpopular with the public, and based on our research, so are his most senior ministers.”

Polling done by the More in Common think-tank in the wake of the election announcement, shared exclusively with HuffPost UK, shows that only 29% of voters see Sunak as an asset to his party, compared to 46% who don’t.

Jenna Cunningham, More in Common’s research and data analyst, said: “There’s no doubt that Rishi Sunak was a popular Chancellor, especially after the furlough scheme, but questions remain about the effectiveness of the current presidential campaign strategy when only three in ten voters think he is an asset to the Conservative Party.

The general feeling among senior Labour figures is one of bafflement at Sunak’s decision to call an election now rather than wait until the autumn.

“I don’t understand the logic,” one adviser to Starmer told HuffPost UK. “If he’d gone for May he could at least have masked the local election results. Summer seems to be the worst of all worlds for them.

“It could be that the economic conditions are much worse than they thought they were and Rwanda isn’t going to work as well, so he’s decided they couldn’t hang on any longer. But you can see why Tory MPs are furious about it.”

One word we are all going to be sick of hearing over the next six weeks is “change”. It was on Starmer’s lectern as he responded to the PM’s announcement and will be emblazoned on thousands of Labour posters on the run-up to polling day.

Labour want voters to think that only Keir Starmer represents "change".
Labour want voters to think that only Keir Starmer represents “change”.

Gareth Fuller – PA Images via Getty Images

“It’s very important that voters know that the only way to end the chaos of the last 14 years is to vote Labour,” said one party stretegist.

“The fact that the Tory campaign has so far been so chaotic – his ludicrous speech in the pouring rain and their MPs all saying he shouldn’t be doing it – just helps us to reinforce that message.”

At the moment, Labour’s main opponent seems to be complacency.

“We’re going to fight this campaign as if it’s still neck and neck,” said one insider. “We will be fighting to win day by day, week by week

“We need to fight as if the polls don’t exist.”

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‘Pure Comedy, Chaos And Shambles’: The Best Jokes About Sunak’s Damp Start To The General Election

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Rishi Sunak’s bold decision to call a general election in the middle of yesterday’s downpour has opened the floodgates on social media.

The prime minister stood outside No.10 Downing Street, in the pouring rain, and declared a general election would be held on July 4.

He then immediately tried to rally voters with a few digs at Labour over the party’s campaigns and policies.

But, no one really focused on that. Most of the attention was on Sunak’s suit, which became completely sodden within minutes.

While all the journalists there to capture the historic moment were sensibly wearing coats or carrying umbrellas, the PM’s bizarre decision to go without for such a pivotal moment, has been demolished by everyone, including today’s newspapers.

Protesters also blared Labour’s 1997 election theme tune – D:Ream’s Things Will Only Get Better – throughout the PM’s speech.

And so critics were quick to coin the phrase “Things Will Only Get Wetter” in a scathing take on Sunak’s announcement.

Considering the Conservatives are around 20 points behind Labour in the opinion polls right now, the image of a downtrodden Sunak standing in the rain was seen as an apt metaphor by many people on social media.

Others pointed out that the Conservatives actually set up an expensive press conference room within No.10, which is warm, dry and available to use.

Either way, the impact that image of a soaked Sunak has had among his online critics – and the newspapers – is clearly significant.

Here’s a round-up of social media’s best jokes about the embarrassing PR gaffe…

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Voter In Rishi Sunak Campaign Video Came ‘Close’ To ‘Clobbering’ The Prime Minister

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Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been hit by another blunder after he released a video featuring a voter who said he came “close” to hitting him.

A slick promotional video published on X by Sunak, showed him delivering the speech in Downing Street and meeting voters across the country.

One member of the public Sunak is pictured with is Josef Schindler, in Altrincham market, on January 6.

Schindler posted a photograph of him and the prime minister on Facebook at the time.

In the comments below the post, Schindler was told: “You do look like you’re going to clobber him.”

He reacted with a laughing emoji and replied simply: “close”.

His speech was also disrupted by Labour Party anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ being played by protesters nearby.

The shambolic opening to the campaign was headlined “things can only get wetter” by the even the Conservative supporting Daily Telegraph.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Sunak said he was the “first to admit that it was a bit wet”.

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Jacob Rees-Mogg Has A Plan For A Tory Election Victory – But Not Even Tory HQ Likes It

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Jacob Rees-Mogg has a new plan to make sure the Conservatives win the next general election – but it’s not exactly popular.

Speaking on his GB News show last night, the former cabinet minister and current backbencher announced his plan to “reunite the right” with a “big, open, comprehensive offer to those in Reform”.

Yes, that’s Reform UK, a party originally set up by famous Brexit campaigner and ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage, now run by Richard Tice and Ben Habib.

Reform currently has just one MP, Lee Anderson, who defected from the Tories earlier this year shortly after resigning as the Conservative Party deputy chair.

It’s thought Reform could end up splitting the right-wing vote when the public next hit the ballot box.

So, Rees-Mogg suggested bringing famous right-wing figures back into the Conservative fold.

He said: “With the help of Nigel Farage in a Conservative government, with Boris Johnson probably returning as foreign secretary, as well [as] welcoming the likes of Ben Habib and Richard Tice into the Conservative Party.”

His nod to the former prime minister is no surprise, considering he served in his government.

The MP also claimed in his “Moggologue” that a truly Conservative government would then be able to look at “slashing migration”, “rolling back the disastrous green agenda” and “abolishing the Equality Act”.

He even suggested that if Farage rejoined Reform, the party would shoot up to 16% in the polls, just 5% behind the Tories – so merging the two parties together would take the Conservatives up to Labour’s current polling at just over 40 percentage points.

He said it is by doing so, “winning the next election is well within reach”.

However, the Conservative Campaign Headquarters told POLITICO’s Playbook they were “unequivocally” ruling out this idea.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats called for the Tories to suspend the whip.

The party’s deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said the Conservatives are “a shambolic mess” with MPs in “open revolt” against Sunak.

“If the Prime Minister had any bottle he would suspend the whip from Rees-Mogg and rule out Nigel Farage being allowed into the Conservative Party,” she said, and called for a general election.

There is no denying that the Conservatives’ electoral chances are currently in dire straits – polling gurus predict there is a 95-99% of a Labour victory – but people could not help but laugh at this idea…

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‘Running Scared’: Rishi Sunak Mocked After He Rules Out General Election On May 2

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Rishi Sunak has been accused of “running scared” after he finally ruled out a genera election on May 2.

The prime minister told ITV West Country that voters across the UK will not have to go to the polls “on that day”.

It brings to an end months of speculation and means the election is almost certain to take place in the autumn.

Senior Labour figures, and many Tories, wanted the general election to coincide with the local council polls in England and Wales on May 2.

But Sunak said: “In seven weeks’ time we have local elections, including in Gloucester where I was talking to them today. We have police and crime commissioner elections, we have mayoral elections.

“I’m squarely focused on those because they’re important and there’s not going to be a general election on that day.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “It looks like we have confirmation of Sunak running scared of an election in May.

“He knows that voters will not put up with this Conservative government’s failures on the NHS and the cost of living crisis any longer.

“That is why lifelong Conservative voters have switched to the Liberal Democrats in their droves and will vote for a hardworking local champion, rather than another Conservative MP who will take them for granted once again.”

Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, said: “After 14 years of Tory failure, the British public have the right to expect an election to be called by 26 March and held on May 2.

“Until the day to call it has passed, we are prepared for the election to take place on the usual day in the election cycle.

“Rishi Sunak should stop squatting in Downing Street and give the country what it desperately needs – a chance for change with a Labour government. The rime minister needs to finally come clean with the public and name the date of the election now.”

Sunak’s announcement means the election is likely to take place in either October or November, although he could go all the way to January next year.

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Why Labour – And Quite A Few Tories – Still Believe The General Election Will Be On May 2

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There is a popular GIF currently doing the rounds in Labour WhatsApp groups.

It shows Justin Timberlake miming for the camera in the video for the NSYNC song It’s Gonna Be Me.

The commonly misheard lyric, however, has been changed to ‘It’s Gonna Be May’ to indicate when they think the general election will be. Yes, that’s what passes for humour in the Westminster village.

Despite all of the apparent evidence that it won’t be, senior Labour figures firmly believe the country will be asked to go to the polls on May 2, coinciding with the local council elections being held on the same day.

With the party miles ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls, it’s easy to see why they want Rishi Sunak to get on with it.

But a surprising number of Tories also think that the PM should name the date for a little over seven weeks’ time.

The doctored Justin Timberlake lyric has become a popular gif in Labour circles.
The doctored Justin Timberlake lyric has become a popular gif in Labour circles.

If he does plump for May 2, the prime minister is going to have to get a move on and announce it.

Parliament would need to be dissolved by midnight on March 26, but time would be needed before then to deal with any outstanding legislation – a process known in the jargon as “wash up”.

One theory doing the rounds is that Sunak will wait until his flagship Safety of Rwanda Bill is passed by the MPs before firing the starting gun on the campaign.

“We’ve been working on the basis he’ll get the lectern out in Downing Street at lunchtime on Saturday, March 23, by which time the Rwanda Bill will be done and so there won’t be much else to wash up,” one senior Labour figure told HuffPost UK.

One Tory MP said he believed the PM would name the date even earlier.

“I’m convinced it’ll be on May 2,” he said. “My guess would be he does prime minister’s questions on the 20th and then calls the election at 3pm that day.”

Rumours abound that ministerial diaries have been cleared for April to leave them free to campaign, while the Tory whip – which tells the party’s MPs about upcoming Commons business – only goes up to the 19th of that month.

A Conservative proponent of a May poll told HuffPost UK: “I think we’ve got a few favourable winds at our back right now and Labour are in a bit of a mess, so May is a better option than October.

“It comes down to two questions: do you want the Conservatives or Labour to run the country, and who do you think has the best plan for the future.

“The truth of the matter is you’ve seen another tax cut in the Budget, while Labour are coming forward with more spending plans that will mean more taxes.

“We’ll also have got the Rwanda bill through, so that is where our strategic advantage lies – despite what the polls say.”

It is difficult to ignore the polls, however. Ipsos put support for the Conservatives at just 20% last week, while another poll yesterday had the Tories on 18%.

There are some Tories who think things could get even worse as the year goes on.

A former minister said: “The local elections in May will be really bad and cause lots of internal trouble for Rishi, so the way to avoid that is by having a general election on the same day.”

A Tory aide added: “He definitely has to go in May. It will only get worse the longer it limps on.”

Rishi Sunak has a big decision to make.
Rishi Sunak has a big decision to make.

WPA Pool via Getty Images

While Sunak has said his “working assumption” is that the election will take place towards the end of the year, he has also been careful not to rule out a May election, demonstrating that it is still in the mix as a possible date.

Given their healthy poll lead, Labour are understandably keen to get on with it.

“Staff in party HQ are being told every day that May is still alive,” said one Labour insider. “If the Tories don’t go for it, what is the point of them? It’ll just look like they’re sitting there waiting for something to turn up, rather than actually running the country.”

A Labour shadow cabinet member said: “We’ll also have another summer of small boat crossings, which would be a terrible election backdrop given Sunak promised to stop them.

“I just think he will conclude its better politically to go now rather than wait till the autumn.”

One leading pollster warned that going to the country now would be an act of “self-immolation” for the Tories, and that the PM might as well wait until the autumn in the hope that the political outlook is a bit brighter.

But the truth is that Sunak has now entered the zone where there are no good options.

Ripping the plaster off and going for May may be marginally preferable to the slow, lingering political death of an October or November poll.

Either way, a thumping Conservative defeat seems all-but inevitable.

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Tory Chair Reveals His ‘Frustration’ With Party Colleagues Over Conservative In-Fighting

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Tory Party chair Richard Holden has made clear his his frustration with his warring Conservative colleagues in a revealing TV interview.

In a moment when the ITV camera crew were filming cutaway shots, Holden was asked how he felt about the other Tory MPs who have called for PM Rishi Sunak to step down or who have called for the party to change direction.

The party chairman said this was “always frustrating”.

“People are always going to have different opinions,” he said. “Usually, it’s best for those opinions to be expressed with other colleagues in the most constructive manner possible, and I’m not sure all colleagues have always done that.”

ITV News’ political correspondent Tom Sheldrick then interrupted Holden to remind him, “your microphone’s on for this”.

Holden went on: “All colleagues want the same outcomes,” referring to migration and economic policies.

“The truth is there will always be slight disagreements about how to get there. It’s always important for all colleagues to remember what unites us, which are those fundamental things.”

Watch the exchange here:

Elsewhere in the interview, Holden – MP for North West Durham – furiously defended his loyalty to the North East region.

But he refused to say why he is not standing in any of the four local constituencies his current seat will be split into after the boundary review.

Sheldrick said: “It’s about you trying to find a safer seat, isn’t it, somewhere else in the country for yourself, rather than being loyal to the North East?”

Holden then energetically jabbed a map of the region and said: “No, I am bloody loyal to the North East, Tom.

“I care about this constituency. I fought for them every day since 2019.

“They’ve never had constituency MP who works harder. I’m up there still, even doing this [party chair] job, every week, working seven days a week, for the people of North West Durham, and I’m going to continue right to the day of the next general election.”

More than 50 Conservative MPs have already announced that they will not be standing at the next general election in a mass exodus.

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Why Has Rishi Sunak Suggested He’s Waiting Until Autumn For A General Election?

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British politics is slowly returning after the Christmas break, and speculation is growing over when the eagerly-anticipated general election will take place after comments made by Rishi Sunak.

What did Sunak say?

The prime minister announced on Thursday his “working assumption” was he would delay going to the country until the “second half” of 2024.

His comments suggest the election will be held in either October or November, as had been widely expected. But it comes following speculation Sunak could decide to call the election for May.

While he did not categorically rule out a spring poll, Sunak told broadcasters: “My working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year.”

Labour, which have consistently held a 20-point poll lead over the Tories, seized on the remarks as a sign he had “bottled” facing the British public and accused Sunak of “squatting” in Downing Street.

What do we actually know?

In Britain, each electoral term is supposed to last five years. Then prime minister Boris Johnson called the last general election in December 2019, meaning meaning the latest possible date for the country to go to the polls would be January 2025.

But in reality, and ever since the establishment of fixed terms in 2011, the five-year gap between polls is not what happens in practice.

Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, a prime minister has the power to call an election earlier than the deadline – all voters would have to wait for is the 25 days between a PM making a “request” to the King to dissolve parliament (and as a constitutional monarch, the King Charles could not reject it) and polling day.

What’s influencing the date?

As it’s in his gift to choose, Sunak is clearly likely to pick a date most favourable to him and his party. And since Labour holds a commanding poll lead, he isn’t going to rush the country to the ballot box when there’s still time to steal a win – however unlikely that currently looks.

His decision could be based on not just whether he can snatch an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat, but also under the grimest projections if he can reduce the number of seats the Tories lose and prevent a 1997-style Labour landslide (or worse).

So what is affecting that choice?

The next big political fixture is the spring budget, when chancellor Jeremy Hunt could magic up some tax and spending commitments that sit well with the electorate. It was the announcement of the March 6 fiscal event that prompted speculation of an spring budget, and a blitz of crowd-pleasing promises could yet encourage Sunak to go early.

But his words on Tuesday suggest he doesn’t think this will be enough.

Other than pushing taxpayers’ money around, he may be on the lookout for something to materialise, and that could lead the country to waiting until the last minute. Three areas in particular will be on his radar: the economy, immigration and an apparent lack of enthusiasm for the Labour alternative.

A positive story around the economy could be possible if the UK manages to avoid a recession in 2024 as inflation cools to more normal levels. But it may be too late to reverse voter antipathy towards the Tories given how Liz Truss crashed the economy, and high mortgage rates continue to hurt homeowners.

Sunak’s “stop the boats” pledge has been central to his pitch to voters since becoming Tory leader, and any sense that he has been able to curb the number of small boats crossing the English channel may be something he can stitch a better narrative out of.

He may hope to combine an uptick on either or both of these with the argument Keir Starmer isn’t the answer to Britain’s problems – but perhaps even January 2025 isn’t enough time to make this strategy work.

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