Why British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a snap election for July 4, says expert

(LONDON) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a snap general election in the United Kingdom on July 4, although he has until January next year to hold one. Sunak, the leader of the ruling Conservative Party, and leaders of other political parties have already started their election campaign.

On a rainy Wednesday, the 44-year-old made a surprise announcement outside the Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London. Unlike the United States, the British parliamentary system grants the ruling party a five-year term and allows it to call an election at any time.

ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman says Sunak's unexpected announcement is partly intended to demonstrate his confidence as his Conservative Party faces an uphill battle to extend its 14 years in power, years marked by a succession of generally unsuccessful leaders amid growing domestic problems.

Start Here spoke to Longman about the upcoming snap elections, what they're likely to do, and the problems facing Britons and their leaders.

START HERE: James, I guess July 4th doesn't matter there, but if you're the Prime Minister and you have the power to set an election date, I guess you do at a time that you believe will be beneficial to you. . Why was it so sudden?

LONGMAN: Well, I mean, it's just our system. And I think it was a Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak who was just trying to play one last hand, maybe trying to show confidence, to take a chance, to roll the dice. Because, you know, most people assume that his ruling party, the Conservatives, will lose the next election. It's just a question of how much.

Now this was a huge shock. The idea that he was going to call an election soon had been brewing for some time, but we just didn't know when. The British system is a parliamentary system. Basically, the ruling party has been in power for five years and can choose to call an election at any time. We thought he was going to wait as long as possible to remain Prime Minister, so that the Conservatives would stay in government. We thought maybe we were going to run into the US election in November, maybe even into January, to try to see some sort of economic recovery and sell to the country, you know, it's not if bad, things get better. .

But no, he made this shocking announcement. I have to say it was all rather depressing. He stood in the rain outside Downing Street. He didn't look like a man about to announce an election; in fact, it looked like he was about to resign. There was a moment when someone with a loudspeaker at the end of Downing Street played Things Can Only Get Better, which was the theme of Labour's winning 1997 election campaign. So it was all pretty miserable. I think the Labor Party, the opposition, will be very happy with the start of the elections. But look, it's been 14 years of Tory control in Britain. Most people think they won't win the election. He's trying to take the bull by the horns, if you will. But it wasn't a very confident start.

START HERE: What's wrong with his party, with the conservatives. I mean, what's going on that's so politically damaging right now?

LONGMAN: Well, there is the economic situation which is bad all over the world. You know, inflation has been high in many countries. In the United States, people are worried about their bills. It's exactly the same situation in Great Britain. The war in Ukraine has led to a rise in energy prices. COVID, the pandemic has caused huge labor shortages. So there were problems beyond the control of this Conservative government.

But overall, people think the country is stagnating. We are currently experiencing a huge crisis with sewage being dumped into our waterways. We have an NHS, the National Health Service, which is not working. We have huge waiting lists for surgeries, with ambulances waiting outside hospitals. Built many schools in buildings that were not fit for purpose. In almost every way, people are looking at different issues within society and saying: The country isn't really seeing the benefits of 14 years of Conservative government.

Added to this is the political aspect of all this, because the Conservative Party seems to have eaten itself. We have had successive prime ministers and leaders. Remember David Cameron, he had to step down because he wanted the UK to stay in Europe. Brexit has therefore torn the party apart. Since his time in office we've had Theresa May, then Boris Johnson, then Liz Truss, and now Rishi Sunak, and it's come one after the other. So I think there is a general feeling in the country that the Conservative Party is a dying party and they have done themselves a disservice by projecting that image. It will be difficult for any party, after 14 years in power, to give the image that they are the ones who have the solutions, because every time they say: “We will solve a problem”, people say: “Well, what have you been doing for the last 14 years?” The big question is: who will replace them?

START HERE: So if it's not the Conservative Party, you would assume that if Rishi Sunak is the one calling the election he would consider himself the favorite, but who is the favorite then, if not him?

LONGMAN: Well, he's going to lead the Conservative Party in this election, so there won't be a Conservative leadership battle, another one, thank God. But the most likely prime minister will be Keir Starmer, who is the leader of the Labor Party. I've been out of power for a while, like I said, 14 years. He has been leader of the Labor Party for five years. He's not much of a showman, I think that's an understatement. He is not charismatic, he would be more critical. Boring. his detractors might say: I don't know if you've ever seen Mr. Bean in the United States, but he's a bit like that. He has horn-rimmed glasses and is a former prosecutor. He's not someone who can necessarily, you know, rouse the crowds. But I think after 14 years of Conservative government and all the psychodrama of Brexit, Boris Johnson and Partygate, maybe people in this country are ready to get a little bored.

But his problem, Keir Starmer, is that people don't know much about him. So that’s the goal of this campaign. Six hundred and fifty deputies sit in Parliament. Now, if they currently had a Labor majority, they would be so far from the result of 2019, which saw a massive Conservative majority under Boris Johnson, that they would have to make a massive change. So that’s all to play for.

START HERE: It’s true. This sometimes results in power-sharing agreements: you vote for the party, not the person. So let's see how this all plays out. But the timing is really crazy here. James Longman, over in London. Thank you so much.

Copyright 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.