Elections herald change in UK with a Labour landslide, but also France and Iran, while the campaign trail hits a shocking turn in the US- Should New Delhi worry about losing friends in high places and how will results change the geopolitical landscape for India?

Hello and Welcome to WorldView at The Hindu with me Suhasini Haidar

If 2024 is the year of elections, with 64 countries going to vote, then the past week is particularly interesting- with 4 of the world’s most prominent leaders watching results of their campaigns closely- US President Biden, Iranian Supreme Leader Khameini, French President Macron….and the biggest loser this week -UK PM Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.

They were crushed in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer- that won the biggest mandate since Tony Blair and ended a 14 year-4 term run in office that saw 5 Conservative Prime Ministers from David Cameron to Rishi Sunak

The Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, a former Human Rights lawyer and prosecutor will now lead one of the strongest majorities in the UK Parliament. Another strong showing has come from the ultra-right Reform Party led by Nigel Farage- accused of outright bigotry and a very tough anti-immigration line- which will no doubt drive the new labour government.

What does the UK loss mean for India:

1. Loss of Sunak, Britain’s first Indian-Origin PM

2. The new government will take a different line on immigration – has promised to appoint special prosecutors to crack down illegal immigrants, and sign Returns agreements with countries to send back

3. Labour past policies troubling- and though Starmer has disavowed its past positions on Kashmir and Khalistan, the worries of many Labour MPs advocating anti-India stands remains

4. The India-UK FTA has been in the works for years has not been completed. While the Labour Party is committed to the FTA, the question is, will it reopen the chapters already negotiated. At an India Global Conference, Shadow Minister David Lammy was very optimistic of completing it soon.

Across the channel, France is also seeing a second round of parliamentary elections that may severely dent President Macron’s grip on governance. The elections, which have been called 3 years early were announced after Macron’s Centrist coalition was defeated badly in June’s European Parliament elections by the Right wing National Rally -Rassemblement National. In the first round, Macron’s party came 3rd to both the ultra right RN and the Leftist bloc that combines Socialists, Communists and the Green party. If the RN were to win it would be the first time a right wing party, once accused of being anti semitic and fascist would control the French parliament since world war 2.

What does the right surge mean for India

1. If Macron is weakened by the results, that may impact France India ties too- certainly Macron has been a major friend, stepped in to be Republic Day chief guest this year after US President declined, has signed a number of major agreements with India in past 5 yrs

2. Immigration- France had begun to take a more progressive look at immigration, bring in new policies for students, and make speaking French a more stringent clause

3. RN’s leader Marine Le Pen has advocated a France First economic policy, and while she has softened her anti-EU position, might make the trade negotiations with India that much more difficult

4. Legislative gridlock that could follow from a hung parliament will make every negotiation difficult at a time France and India has growing strategic ties, also on trade, nuclear and renewable energy and defence.

Next, an election we haven’t followed as closely perhaps- in Iran, which is going to polls after a shocking helicopter crash killed its President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister, also after conflict with Israel, and after the major anti-Hijab demonstrations. The first round of these elections had two startling outcomes- a very low turnout of 40%, which is being read as a boycott of polls by an overwhelming number of voters unhappy with the regime. And in the results of the first round, Masoud Pezeshkian, a surgeon who was the Minister of Health and seen as a reformist, one who has advocated more reconciliation with the west won more votes than Khamenei protégé Saeed Jalili, Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator. 

Here’s what to watch out for in India:

1. A win for Khamenei’s choice Jalili would no doubt signal continuity, and the same policies that India forged with his predecessor- in terms of Chabahar

2. However, Jalili’s win would also mean a continuation of US sanctions on Iran, that are already a cause for worry for India

3. A reformist win could bring in some relief internally in terms of women’s rights -Pezeshkian had publicly criticised the regime for the death of women’s activist Mahsa Amini over not wearing the hijab

4. However, real power remains with the Supreme leader and clergy, so no major policy changes can be expected

Finally, while this election is still months away, the US campaign hit a dramatic note this week in the aftermath of a disastrous drubbing to US President Joseph Biden by former President Donald Trump- with many calling for 82-year-old Biden, who appeared infirm and incoherent, to step aside in favour of another candidate as polls show Trump far ahead. Biden is said to be considering his options, but is expected to make another show of strength, in interviews and hosting a mega NATO Summit with Indo-Pacific leaders as well as Ukraine President Zelenskyy next week.

 What does it mean for India?

1. India has dealt with both Biden and Trump, and strategic and defence ties have improved with both

2. However, the Biden administration is getting tougher on India’s Russia ties, and PM Modi’s visit to Moscow next week will be seen dimly

3. While Trump has been seen as softer on Russia in the past, he also brings unpredictability and open threats, of the kind seen with Iran sanctions, and India may have to make tough choices there

4. On the economy too, Trump will drive a harder deal

35. While Biden is seen as more problematic on the issue of human rights, and the ongoing Pannun case on alleged transnational repression by India

 WV Take: The larger theme from elections in UK, France, Iran, US is that economic distress, inflation are underlying issues for people everywhere, spurring democratic change. A resultant strengthening of conservative right wing values- including anti-immigration, xenophobia and racism is a larger worry, even as Indians continue to be amongst the largest groups of illegal immigrants to Europe and US. These will have a bearing on both bilateral ties and foreign policy in the future.

 WV Book recommendations:

1. Biographies of new UK PM- Keir Starmer: by Tom Baldwin and Red Knight: The Unauthorised Biography of Sir Keir Starmer by Michael A. Ashcroft

2. The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation Kindle Edition by Tim Bale

3. Great Britain?: The instant Sunday Times bestseller and must-read for the 2024 General Election Kindle Edition by Torsten Bell

4. Politics On the Edge: by Rory Stewart also co host of podcast The Rest is Politics

5. The Macron Régime: The Ideology of the New Right in France by Charles Devellennes

6. Revolutionary Iran : A History of the Islamic Republic by Michael Axworthy

Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar

Production: Gayatri Menon and Shibu Narayan

Victoria Starmer, whose husband Keir is the new UK prime minister, works in the public health service, is hardly photographed and has kept a low profile on the campaign trail.

But in the coming days, many Britons will begin to recognise the face of the elegant 50-year-old brunette who has been married to the head of the Labour government for more than 15 years.

Since Keir Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 and during the election campaign, Victoria Starmer has not given an interview and has only rarely partaken in politics.

Her public appearances are few and far between: at the polling station on election days, in the stands at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and Taylor Swift’s London concert, or at Buckingham Palace for state dinners and receptions.

A rare exception was when she joined her husband on the stage at the party’s annual conference in 2023, donning a red dress in Labour’s colours.

Even with the move into Downing Street, the former lawyer intends to continue as an occupational health worker in the NHS.

Former lawyer

Victoria Alexander was raised in north London. Her father is a former accountant from a Polish-Jewish background and her mother was a community doctor.

She studied law at Cardiff University in Wales where she was head of the student union.

She also volunteered in Labour’s campaign headquarters under Tony Blair before becoming a solicitor in a law firm.

After that, she joined the NHS.

The new prime minister has recounted their first encounter several times, meeting back when they were both working on a court case in the early 2000s.

He called her up to ask if all the documents she prepared were accurate.

Soon after, he asked her on a date to a pub in Camden in north London.

The couple married in 2007 and have two children — a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter whom Starmer never mentions by name in public to protect their privacy.

They live in Kentish Town, in his north London constituency.

‘Down to earth’

While the prime minister says he is not religious, his wife has passed on Jewish traditions to their children, including going to the synagogue and Friday night dinners.

Always ready with a compliment for “Vic”, as he refers to her, Keir Starmer told Vogue magazine that his wife was “very sassy, very down to earth”.

In another interview, he said her current job gave him a “direct line of sight on a daily basis into the challenges of the NHS and the morale of the staff”.

A family friend once said Victoria complemented her husband and was “literally the yin to his yang”.

Seen by many Labour advisors as an asset to her husband, she has nevertheless kept a safe distance from the media during the election campaign.

Keir Starmer insisted that she wished to focus on their son, who was taking his school-leaving exams this year.

But she could not stop the press mentioning her testimony in court last month in a case where three pro-Palestinian activists went on trial for protesting outside the family home against Labour’s stance on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

“I felt a bit sick, to be perfectly honest. I felt apprehensive and uncomfortable”, she said.

In Downing Street, the Starmers intend to be “fiercely protective” of their children from the media spotlight to come, the Labour leader has said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Britain’s head of state King Charles III officially appointed Labour leader Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace.

A photograph released by the palace showed the monarch shaking hands with Starmer, whose party won a landslide election victory. The king earlier accepted the resignation of Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.

“The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration,” a palace statement read.

“Sir Keir accepted His Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Britain’s Labour Party swept to power on July 5 after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory — but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation.

Labour leader Keir Starmer will officially become prime minister later in the day, leading his party back to government less than five years after it suffered its worst defeat in almost a century.

U.K. General Election 2024 LIVE updates

In the merciless choreography of British politics, he will take charge in 10 Downing St. shortly after Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and his family left the official residence and King Charles III accepted his resignation at Buckingham Palace.

“This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honored to have been prime minister of the best country in the world,” Sunak said in his farewell address.

Mr. Sunak had conceded defeat earlier in the morning, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”

In a magnanimous farewell speech in the same place where he had called for the snap election six weeks earlier, Sunak wished Starmer all the best but also acknowledged his missteps.

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss,” Sunak said. “To all the Conservative candidates and campaigners who worked tirelessly but without success, I’m sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved.”

With almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.

“A mandate like this comes with a great responsibility,” Mr. Starmer acknowledged in a speech to supporters, saying the fight to regain people’s trust after years of disillusionment “is the battle that defines our age.”

Speaking as dawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day.”

For Mr. Starmer, it’s a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.

“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”

And that’s what Mr. Starmer promised, saying “change begins now.”

Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.

“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able to think beyond the very short term to medium-term objectives,” he said.

Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years — some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not — that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K. divorce from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.

Rising poverty, crumbling infrastructure and overstretched National Health Service have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”

Mr. Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy further with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. Truss, who lost her seat to Labour, was one of a slew of senior Tories kicked out in a stark electoral reckoning.

While the result appears to buck recent rightward electoral shifts in Europe, including in France and Italy, many of those same populist undercurrents flow in Britain. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage roiled the race with his party’s anti-immigrant “take our country back” sentiment and undercut support for the Conservatives and even grabbed some voters from Labour.

The result is a catastrophe for the Conservatives as voters punished them for 14 years of presiding over austerity, Brexit, a pandemic, political scandals and internecine conflict.

The historic defeat — the smallest number of seats in the party’s two-century history — leaves it depleted and in disarray and will spark an immediate contest to replace Sunak, who said he would step down as leader.

In a sign of the volatile public mood and anger at the system, the incoming Parliament will be more fractured and ideologically diverse than any for years. Smaller parties picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and Farage’s Reform UK. It won four seats, including one for Farage in the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, securing a place in Parliament on his eighth attempt.

The Liberal Democrats won about 70 seats, on a slightly lower share of the vote than Reform because its votes were more efficiently distributed. In Britain’s first-past-the-post system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.

The Green Party won four seats, up from just one before the election.

One of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland’s 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but handful, mostly to Labour.

Labour did not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.”

But the party’s cautious, safety-first campaign delivered the desired result. The party won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid, which praised Starmer for “dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics.”

The Conservative campaign, meanwhile, was plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.

In Henley-on-Thames, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of London, voters like Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired, sensed the nation was looking for something different. The community, which has long voted Conservative, flipped to the Liberal Democrats this time.

“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ Mulcahy said ahead of the results. “But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”

London:

One of the first challenges for Keir Starmer as the UK Prime Minister will be to restore the Labour Party’s ties with India, which has been tumultuous due to their remarks on Kashmir. Starmer led the party to a landslide win in the general elections, a result that spelt doom for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.  

In the past, the Labour Party has often come under fire for their stand on the Kashmir issue. Their stance has been in stark contrast with the British government’s view that Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.

Under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, the party had in September 2019 passed an emergency motion seeking international observers to “enter” Kashmir and demand the right of self-determination for its people. It also called for Mr Corbyn to meet the high commissioners of both India and Pakistan to ensure there is “mediation” and restoration of peace and normality to prevent a potential nuclear conflict.

The resolution was slammed by India which called it an effort to “pander to vote-bank’s interest”.

Starmer, realising how important ties with the world’s fastest-growing economy are, set out on a mission to fix the missteps made by the party in the past. His manifesto included a commitment to pursue a “new strategic partnership” with India, emphasizing the trade agreement.

During meetings with the Indian diaspora and public addresses, Starmer affirmed that Kashmir is an internal issue and will be resolved by India and Pakistan.

“Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament, and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully,” he said during a meeting with Labour Friends of India.

During his poll campaign, Starmer embarked on outreach efforts, denouncing Hinduphobia and celebrating cultural festivals like Diwali and Holi.

This policy adjustment aims to rebuild trust with the British-Indian community and foster stronger business ties with India, a critical aspect of Labour’s international agenda.

The Labour Party, out of power for over a decade, has also outlined a foreign policy of “progressive realism,” emphasizing pragmatic approaches to global challenges such as climate change and international security. Starmer’s manifesto includes plans for a new strategic partnership with India, focusing on trade agreements and cooperation in technology, security, education, and environmental issues.

Labour passed the magic number of 326 seats for a House of Commons majority just before 5 am on Friday, confirming a change of government that was predicted for months but is still a remarkable turnaround for Starmer’s party in a single electoral cycle. Starmer will now replace Sunak as prime minister on Friday, ending the Tories’ 14-year grip on power.

What are the issues in your constituency and how are they different from what is being discussed at the national level?

The issues are very similar, frankly, up and down the country. But one particular thing in Leicester East is around unemployment and low wages, which then creates a double whammy with the rise in the cost of living. This is coming up on the doorsteps quite a lot. And that’s why my experience as the Deputy Mayor of London for Business and also as an entrepreneur… I’m getting ready to get stuck in, to get the economy going in Leicester East, creating new jobs, bringing investments, supporting the businesses here in Leicester East.

As  well as that the issues around declining public services, people can’t get GP [ doctor ] appointments or dentist  appointments, hospital appointments. All of that is a big issue. Then with regard to education, getting places in schools for children is very hard. And then, of course, Leicester East is in need of somebody who can bring different communities together. I’m very proud to have been the first Hindu Deputy Mayor of London working alongside the first Muslim, Mayor of London. And I want to work towards bringing all the communities in Leicester together.

Two years ago there was some unusual trouble between the communities. Marco Longhi, the Conservative candidate in Dudley was recently criticized for trying to rake up things. And there was also some news of some affiliated with  the RSS and BJP stirring up trouble two years ago. Have things settled? Are you seeing any of that this year? 

Leicester has been a beacon of multicultural society for decades, people of different faiths and different ethnic backgrounds have all lived together. Of course, there were some challenges recently and that’s why there’s a strong will from communities – all different communities –  to actually come together. It’s work in progress. Of course, you know, we have to continually work at it. We should never take anything for granted.

Are you noticing anything from overseas such as, say political parties in India, and specifically, BJP RSS affiliates, acting in this election?

I haven’t seen anything. That is there’s absolutely no sign to suggest any of that. I’m very focused on my campaign, talking to people the 1000s of conversations that I’ve had all tend to be around  local issues, frankly …employment, economy, public services, the NHS (National Health Service), those sort of things.

What activities are going on, in Leicester East,  to keep the communities together?

There is dialogue. For example, women of Hindu and Muslim faiths meeting regularly.  Teas organized, one to one cups of tea between people of different faiths, and so forth. So there are community initiatives that are taking place. I know there is a strong will in all communities to come together. It has to be community led, not political led.

How is immigration as an issue playing out in Leicester East? Is there a difference between first generation and others on the issue?

Leicester is a city of immigrants. It’s got great stories of people coming from different parts of the world, particularly from South Asia via East Africa or directly. They came here with nothing, many of them. They’ve worked very hard. They’ve lived together, they’ve done well in life. It’s an aspirational community. We are very proud to be a city of immigrants in that sense. But at the same time, 14 years of Tory government have failed to do enough to provide those jobs and opportunities to new arrivals and services that help them integrate in the new country.

There’s no doubt that we need to cut the net migration down, but the important thing is as people arrive in the country, it’s important that the infrastructure keeps up with it, in terms of the hospitals and the surgeries [doctors’ clinics]  and schools and the transport and the housing and everything. And the government has actually failed to do that. So we are very proud of all the contributions that the immigrants have made, particularly those from the subcontinent, to Leicester.

By and large, Asians vote Labour. But you have the Sunak factor. How is that working in Leicester?

Ultimately the people of this country will vote on the issues that affect them on a day to day basis. And the fact of the matter is, we are stuck in this very poor economy, which is growing extremely slowly. There aren’t enough well-paying jobs. People can’t get GP appointments, dentistry appointments, hospital appointments. Children can’t get places in school. Class sizes have actually gone up. All of those issues are the main concerns for people across the country, including the British Indian community. So whilst it is a matter of pride that you’ve got a non-white, first person of Indian origin as the Prime Minister, the main thing is about the performance, which has been a huge let down.

What differentiates your candidacy from former MP Claudia Webbe (independent) or Keith Vaz (a longtime , erstwhile Labour MP, who is running again)  ?

I’ve got a great track record. And not just as a first generation immigrant, like many people here in Leicester East I came to this country with very little. I’ve built up businesses, served as  Deputy Mayor of London for Business, one of the most diverse and  greatest cities in the world.

How have your beginnings in India and your background affected your politics and your desire to be in politics ?

So I was born and grew up in what you would describe as a lower middle class family, in India. My mother was a schoolteacher. My father was a mechanic in the irrigation department in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Very humble beginnings, but I had a good education. I went to a Catholic school in Indore  and finished all my education and studied business. My first job full time job was actually selling website designing services for Rs. 5000 a month. I was in Chandigarh and in Mumbai. And then I got an opportunity to come to this country. I still remember when I first landed at Heathrow Airport [ in 2001], I’d never been on a plane before.

I was 24 years old, a young person. This country welcomed me with open arms and has given me so much. So for me, this is sort of about giving back to the society and to the community that has given me so much.

I’m also proud of the fact that I’ve done a great deal of work to try and connect my janmabhoomi (land of birth) with my karmabhoomi (land of work). When I first became London’s Deputy Mayor, India was the fourth largest investor in London. By the time I left, it was the largest investor in London. I opened three offices in India to promote trade and investment between the two countries.

London:

Britain’s political leaders made a final frantic push for votes Wednesday on the last day of an election campaign expected to return a Labour government after 14 years of Conservative rule.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted he was still “fighting hard” despite one of his closest allies conceding that the Tories were heading for an “extraordinary landslide” defeat on Thursday.

The Conservatives suffered a further blow at the 11th hour when The Sun tabloid, famous for backing election winners, endorsed Keir Starmer’s Labour.

Polls overwhelmingly predict that Labour will win its first general election since 2005 — making Starmer the party’s first prime minister since Gordon Brown left office in 2010.

That outcome would see Britain swing leftwards back to the centre ground after almost a decade and a half of right-wing Conservative governments, dominated first by austerity, then Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis.

Starmer, 61, criss-crossed the UK in a bid to shore up Labour support and warn against complacency in the campaign’s final hours.

“If you want change, you have to vote for it,” he told reporters at an event in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, where supporters handed out cakes with red ribbons, the colour associated with the party. 

“I’m not taking anything for granted,” he added, before flying to Scotland on the same plane that took the England football team to the European Championships in Germany.

Sunak, 44, sought to hammer home his oft-repeated warnings that a Labour government would mean tax rises and weaker national security — jibes that Labour has branded a desperate attempt to cling to power.

The Tories also stepped up their warnings to voters to stop the prospect of Labour winning a “supermajority”, which Labour fears is intended to hit turnout. 

Sunak ally Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, said Wednesday the electorate would “regret” handing Labour “untrammelled” power without an effective Tory opposition.

– Bigger than Blair? –

“If you look at the polls, it is pretty clear that Labour at this stage are heading for an extraordinary landslide on a scale that has probably never, ever been seen in this country before,” he told right-wing broadcaster GB News.

But ex-PM Boris Johnson — ousted by his own colleagues, including Sunak, in 2022 — staged his first major intervention of the campaign Tuesday, urging supporters not to see the result as a “foregone conclusion”.

Labour has enjoyed a consistent 20-point lead in the polls over the past two years with many voters dissatisfied at the Conservatives’ handling of a range of issues including public services, immigration and the economy.

Several surveys predict that Labour will win more than the record 418 seats it won when Tony Blair ended 18 years of Conservative rule in 1997. 

Labour requires at least 326 seats to secure a majority in the 650-seat parliament.

Voters head to the polls from 7:00 am (0600 GMT), with results expected to start dropping from about 2230 GMT late Thursday into Friday morning.

The vote is Britain’s first July election since 1945, when Labour under Clement Attlee defeated the Conservatives of World War II leader Winston Churchill, ushering in a period of transformational social change.

Attlee’s government created the modern welfare state, including the state-run National Health Service (NHS), Britain’s most cherished institution after the royal family.

– In-tray –

Starmer’s “change” agenda is not so radical this time around and promises cautious management of the economy, as part of a long-term growth plan that includes nursing battered public services back to health.

A Labour government would face a formidable to-do list, ranging from spurring anaemic growth to ending NHS strikes and improving post-Brexit ties with Europe.

Some voters simply eye a respite from politics after a chaotic period of five prime ministers, a succession of scandals and Tory infighting between centrists and right-wingers that shows no sign of abating. 

The Sun called the Conservatives a “divided rabble, more interested in fighting themselves than running the country”, adding: “It is time for a change.”

Starmer — the working-class son of a tool maker and a nurse — has none of the political charisma or popularity of former leader Blair, who presided over that last Labour victory in 2005.

But the former human rights lawyer and chief public prosecutor stands to gain from a country fed up with the Tories, and a feeling of national decline.

Arch-Eurosceptic Nigel Farage hopes the discontent will see him elected an MP at the eighth time of trying, while the Liberal Democrats are expected to gain dozens of seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Monday say only his Conservatives can counter a Labour-led government and that a vote for Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK would hamper any chance of his party forming a strong opposition.

Appearing to all but concede defeat before Thursday’s election, Sunak will appeal to those voters on the political right who are considering voting for Farage’s party in protest at his Conservative government.

The Conservatives look set to be kicked out of office after 14 turbulent years, marked by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016 and the cost of living crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Opinion polls have consistently given Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party an around 20-point lead, with support for Reform potentially splitting the centre-right vote and the centrist Liberal Democrats further draining Conservative support.

Sunak will say at a rally that Reform “just won’t win enough seats to oppose Labour”, saying the party had previously said it would be good to get a handful of members of parliament elected.

“Just imagine that: Hundreds and hundreds of Labour MPs opposed by just ‘one, two, three, four, five elected MPs’,” Sunak will say, according to extracts of his speech.

“A Labour government would be bad for our country, and an unchecked Labour government would be a disaster from which it would take decades to recover.”

Farage is one of Britain’s most recognisable and divisive politicians. He has spent decades railing against the establishment and the European Union, and has in recent years campaigned for Donald Trump in the United States.

He entered the election in early June, vowing to supplant the Conservatives as the main party of the right.

Polls appear to show that Reform’s support peaked in the second half of June, shortly before Farage said the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some of his candidates have been dropped for racist or inappropriate remarks.

While Britain’s electoral system means Reform may win millions of votes, the party is unlikely to win more than a handful of parliamentary seats. But that could be enough to split the right in many areas and hand victory to Labour.

Britain will likely elect a centre-left government as much of Europe swings right, including in France where Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally won the first round of a parliamentary election on Sunday.

With polls showing many voters are undecided, Sunak will make a final appeal for people to limit Labour’s power if it gets into government, saying: “We Conservatives will stand up for you and make sure your voice is heard, your values represented.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)