by Pia Gizzi
Starmer or Sunak, that is the question on everyone’s mind. What’s important is you register to vote by 11:59pm on June 18th.
After 14 years in power, the Conservatives are leaving behind a broken NHS, a housing crisis, decreased living standards, two financial emergencies, Brexit, widening inequalities and a trail of drama.
The reign of Tory power should be studied as to how not rule a country. We are tired of the them, and want them out. Labour is polling over double that of the Conservatives, however still a whopping 6 in 10 Brits want someone other than the current party leaders to be the next Prime Minister.
Around Europe we’re seeing a widening divide between the left and the right, most recently the European Parliament has seen right-wing parties triumph among EU voters. In our own country, the Government are currently as “right wing as 2014-16 era UKIP,” according to YouGov trackers, and look where that got us.
Sunak has been responsible for introducing the Rwanda scheme, a cruel immigration policy that sees illegal immigrants or asylum seekers sent to Rwanda.
The Tory party have also attempted to pass another heartless bill, the Criminal Justice Bill, which would see rough sleeping and begging criminalised.
During the campaign period, Sunak has also said he wants to scrap “Mickey Mouse degrees” such as media studies and philosophy deeming them “a rip off,” as well as wanting to reform the Equality Act so protection doesn’t stretch to Trans individuals. The list of their inhumane movements goes on and on.
Tory’s are scrambling for votes. Policies are targeted to appeal to potential Reform voters, a strategy made abundantly clear with the unveiling of their first policy, introducing mandatory national service for teenagers. Playing on culture wars and the nations sense of security to try and turn the election around.
However, it’s not just the Tory’s that have become more right wing. We’ve seen a flurry of Tory MP’s flee the sinking ship and moving to Labour. A sign that Labour too has shifted.
Starmer pledged to reset labour and win back the voters Corbyn scared off. By moving closer to the centre, he’s has won back some voters, as well as unlocking others, the centrists and soft rights.
In doing so, he has also isolated millions of voters. Party membership numbers reached a peak of 532,000 at the end of 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, since then, numbers have plummeted, falling to 366,604 in March.
Core Labour voters have been alienated due to the stances Starmer has made, including pushing much loved labour MP’s out, such as Dianne Abbot and Faiza Shaheen.
Another a huge sore point is how the leader responded to Israel’s ongoing attack in Palestine. Labour has felt the repercussions of the stance, losing votes in huge numbers across England with places with high Muslim populations as well as seeing some MP’s leave their positions due to the parties pro-Israel stance.
Their manifesto is expected to recognise the state of Palestine, but many find the promises empty and little too late.
Neither party leader appeals to the majority of Brits, millions are left isolated, and unsure how to vote, it begs the question, does our electoral system need an overhaul? All we know, is we need change, urgently.
If you’re interested in voting tactically, sharing our aim to remove the current Conservative government, its easy to find out how to here.
Don’t forget to bring photo ID to vote on July 4th 2024. (You can apply for it here until 5pm on June 26th.)
Edited by Emily Duff