London: British political parties began jockeying for position on Thursday, setting out their election battle plans after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a July 4 general election.
The campaign ended months of speculation about the date of the vote at a rain-soaked rally outside Downing Street on Wednesday, with some pointing to a chance for the Conservatives to go to the polls.
The right-wing Tories, in power since 2010 but battered by a series of scandals and ideological clashes over Brexit, have consistently trailed the main opposition Labor Party in opinion polls for two years.
The gap widened, prompting many commentators to predict a 2019 victory for Labor after a heavy defeat for the left.
Shortly after the candidate’s speech, a Survation poll of voting intentions put Labor on 48 points, its highest since November 2022, and 21 points ahead of the Tories in 27th place.
In an online poll of more than 1,000 adults on Wednesday and Thursday, 43 percent of respondents said Labor leader Keir Starmer would make a better prime minister than Sunak.
The researchers said the results were consistent with Labor opinion polls in 2023 and this year, and other surveys suggesting similar results.
The July vote, the first in Britain since 1945, will be Sunagh’s first national election test since Labor’s victory when he was nominated as Tory leader by his own MPs in October 2022.
The 44-year-old former financier has pitched the party as a safe option in an increasingly dangerous world, vowing to “fight for every vote” to end the polling deficit.
UK parties sharpen knives as general election looms
