- What are the reasons for the increase in popularity of rival conservative parties?
- What are the challenges facing Rishi Sunak?
- Considering the disastrous political and economic situation of UK, what do the British want?
- What is the response of the UK government to the increase in requests to hold a snap general election?
With the increase in the number of signatories of the petition to hold a snap general election in UK, it was decided that this issue should be put on the agenda of the Parliament. This development, along with the growing pressure of opposition parties to remove the conservatives from power, has greatly increased the possibility of political change in the coming months.
The danger of controversial conservative policies
Calls for a snap general election in UK have increased as the country’s economic woes have worsened as a result of controversial Conservative policies. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss announced in her economic program that she will reduce corporate taxes in order to increase investment incentives and fight the economic recession in this country, but critics say that with this action, she only targets large companies. They have achieved windfall profits and increased the public debt of the government, which must be paid from the pockets of all people.
The popularity of the government’s rival party
The dire economic situation has caused widespread public discontent in UK and has greatly weakened the foundations of conservative power. According to the latest poll conducted in UK, the popularity of the conservative ruling party has decreased by 7 points to 21%. Meanwhile, the popularity of the government’s rival party (Labor) led by Keir Starmer has increased by 9 points to 54%, and this 33% advantage is the highest difference in the popularity of the two parties since 1990.
Snap general election
With the spread of dissatisfaction with the economic programs of the conservative governments, the people of this country are demanding snap general elections. More than 500,000 people signed the electronic petition to hold a general election in UK, and thus, the Parliament is forced to pay attention to this request.
The content of the electronic petition
The text of the electronic petition states that a series of crises, including the war in Ukraine, the agreement on the border in Northern Ireland that has damaged the relationship between the UK and the EU, the risk of economic stagnation and the possibility of the separation of Scotland from UK, are the biggest challenges in the era Contemporary has created. The Tories defended their economic plans amid criticism that volatility in UK’s financial markets continues.
The UK government’s failure to respond to the electronic petition
According to political procedures, if the number of signatures of a petition exceeds 10,000 people, the UK government must respond to it, and if it exceeds 100,000 people, the request will be discussed in the House of Commons; Meanwhile, the UK government has not yet responded to this petition, contrary to the defined procedure, and Rishi Sunak has been elected as the new prime minister. More than 500,000 British citizens have signed a petition calling for snap general elections. With this situation, observers believe that the presence of conservatives in power has been counted and the possibility of holding a national election before the end of this year is unlikely.
Unprecedented chaos in UK
The aforementioned petition states that the chaos ruling UK is unprecedented and points out that the island is in danger of stagnation and disintegration. All in all, the British economic situation is in the worst condition of the last half century as a result of several consecutive crises in recent years. Although all European countries are in an economic crisis and inflation has increased in an unbridled manner, statistics and surveys show that UK is in the worst situation in every respect compared to all member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Scotland is heading for a snap general election
Following the election of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister of the UK, Scotland called for a snap general election. Scottish First Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for an snap general election in the UK after the election of Sunak, the former British finance minister, and stressed that Scotland never voted for Sunak.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Twitter message
Sturgeon wrote on Twitter: “As for the politics, I’d suggest one immediate decision he should take and one he certainly should not. He should call an early General Election. And he should not – must not – unleash another round of austerity. Our public services will not withstand that. For Scotland, of course, he becomes another PM we did not and, without doubt would not vote for even if given the chance. To escape the damage of Westminster governments with no mandate here, and take our future into our own hands, Scotland needs independence.”
Election of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister of UK
The Prime Minister of Scotland also congratulated Sunak and emphasized that he will do his best to establish a constructive cooperation with him. This is despite the fact that Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister of UK, became the leader of the conservative party and the prime minister of the government a few days ago. Sunak is the first Indian-Asian Prime Minister of UK as she is the leader of the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Majority Party. Sunak is the youngest Prime Minister of UK in the last 200 years. In 1812, the 42-year-old Lord Liverpool had become the Prime Minister of UK.
Challenges facing Rishi Sunak
Sunak has taken the helm at a time when UK’s economic situation is at its worst in half a century and the economic plans of the Liz Truss government have exacerbated the situation. In this way, the grandson of Indian immigrants has once again got the chance to be the first non-white person to take over the administration of the UK government.
Not only the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats of UK want to hold a snap general election, but the citizens of this country have also launched a campaign to support this idea. On the other hand, the Conservative Party of UK, which is currently the ruling party, prefers to reject such a request due to the increasing popularity of rival parties. The general election campaign must reach one million signatures to be noticed.
