Thursday’s general election is a defining moment for Britain after 14 years of Conservative Party rule. Polls suggest the centre-left Labour Party is poised to return to power in what would be a fundamental realignment of British politics.
Millions of voters in 650 constituencies cast ballots to elect candidates to represent them as Members of Parliament. The political party that wins the most seats will usually form the next British government, and the leader of that party will also become Prime Minister.
To achieve an absolute majority, a party must win 326 seats. If the party that wins the majority does not achieve this number, it can try to form a government with the support of other parties.
Here’s a look at the key parties and players in the race:
Conservative Party
Leader: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Sunak took office in October 2022, replacing Liz Truss, whose sweeping tax cut plan spooked financial markets and forced her out of office after just seven weeks. But Britain’s high mortgage rates and stagnant economy have persisted, and under Sunak’s leadership the Conservatives have suffered heavy defeats in special parliamentary elections and in mayoral and local council races.
Defenders of Sunak, 44, say he is a victim of global economic headwinds stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and argue he deserves credit for stabilising markets. But critics say he never followed through with a convincing strategy to revive growth. He also failed to deliver on two other promises: cutting waiting times in the National Health Service and stopping small boats ferrying asylum seekers across the English Channel. Some say Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker whose wife is the daughter of an Indian tech billionaire, is simply unrelatable.
Labor Party
Leader: Keir Starmer
Labour has held a double-digit lead in the polls for more than 18 months. Starmer, 61, a former prosecutor and human rights lawyer, has methodically repositioned the party as a centre-left alternative to the divided, erratic and sometimes extremist Conservatives. If Labour wins, Starmer will become the party’s first prime minister since Gordon Brown left office in 2010.
A Labour government would operate under tight financial constraints, raising questions about whether Starmer would have to raise taxes to fund promised investments in the National Health Service and other public services. While he has made a general promise not to raise taxes on “working people”, Labour is expected to raise taxes on oil and gas companies, private equity firms and high-income foreigners living in Britain.
Leader: Nigel Farage
Reform, a small anti-immigration party, has surged in the polls in recent months and Conservative officials fear it could take support away from their candidates. Farage, a Brexiteer and outspoken supporter of Donald J. Trump, originally said he would not stand in the election but changed his mind last month when he announced he would stand for Parliament in Clacton, a small seaside town where 70 percent of voters voted for Brexit in 2016. That has shaken up the race and could help Labour by splitting the right-wing vote.
Liberal Democrats
Leader: Ed Davey
The Liberal Democrats, a small centrist party, are well placed to win seats in wealthy areas such as Surrey, where right-wing voters find the party more acceptable than Labour. The Lib Dems made health and social care major priorities of their campaign, and were helped by Davey, 58, who spoke movingly of her personal struggles, including caring for her disabled teenage son. She also engaged in publicity stunts, such as bungee jumping and stand-up paddleboarding, trying to divert attention from the party’s bigger rivals.
Other parties
In Scotland, the once dominant Scottish National Party The party has been weakened by a funding scandal and the departure of Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, giving Labour the opportunity to win more seats there and ease Starmer’s path to becoming prime minister. Green Party made considerable gains in local elections in early May, and pre-election polls suggested it was gaining support among left-wing voters, especially those aged 18 to 24, alienated by Labour’s move to the centre.
