Historic result – Why Labour won and Farage laughed too

Things haven’t been going so well for the former world power Great Britain in recent years. Brexit, economic crisis, political scandals before, during and after Corona – now the governing Conservatives have presented the bill.

Since David Cameron won the 2010 election, the Tories have held sway in Britain for 14 years. Five years later, Cameron even won an outright majority by promising to let the British vote on whether to remain in the EU. What followed, however, may have heralded the Tories’ downfall.

The Brexit referendum as the beginning of the end
As is well known, the Brexit referendum was lost and the British people voted to leave the EU, partly because of the populist campaign by Farage and then London Mayor Boris Johnson for those who were in favour of leaving.

This heralded perhaps the most chaotic phase in British domestic politics, with several changes of prime minister, an early general election and Britain’s departure from the European Union. Although polls show that a majority of Britons now reject this, Labour leader Keir Starmer does not want to reverse this. However, the EU supporter would like to have closer ties with the EU states, but without membership of the customs union and the single market – which would also be good for the British economy.

What did the election cost Sunak?
But even though the social democratic Labour Party performed strongly, the British are also divided. Because what cost Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the election, apart from a failed asylum policy (keyword: Rwanda pact) and the scandals surrounding ex-Prime Minister Johnson and other senior party members, was probably not least the rise of the right-wing party. populists.

The biggest winner of the election night was of all people former MEP Farage, who had previously unsuccessfully sought a seat in the House of Commons seven times. He has now managed to enter the British parliament in the Brexit stronghold of Clacton-on-Sea with 46.2 percent of the vote.

Conservative incumbent Giles Watling lost 44 percentage points to 27.9 percent. Ahead of Farage, Tory defector Lee Anderson was declared the winner of the election in Ashfield, central England. Anderson, who was suspended by the Tories for anti-Muslim comments, became Britain’s first elected right-wing populist MP.

Farage cheers: “This is just the first step”
“This is just the first step of something that will shock you all,” Farage said in his victory speech. There is a “huge gap across the right wing political spectrum, and it is my job to fill it.” “This Labour government is going to be in trouble very soon,” Farage announced, referring to the victorious opposition party. He wants to draw voters away from Labour, particularly since there was no enthusiasm for the party in this election. Instead, in a few weeks and with no financial resources, Reform UK has achieved “something truly extraordinary.” “We came second in hundreds of constituencies.”

One BBC presenter even called Reform UK’s strong performance “the story of the night”. It was able to outperform the Tories in many constituencies, thus contributing significantly to Labour’s successes. Due to the majority voting system, Reform UK is likely to win only four seats. The Liberal Democrats fared much better, winning 71 seats, overtaking the Scottish National Party as the third strongest force. This was massively reduced to just nine seats.

Palestine policy cost Starmer votes
It also put a damper or two on Labour. Party leader Starmer, in particular, had to accept a huge defeat in his constituency because of a protest vote against his Palestine policy. Starmer has repeatedly spoken out in favour of a two-state solution, most recently when Ireland, Spain and Norway recognised Palestine as a state. While he should please the left wing of his party, the British public, repeatedly tormented by radical Islamist terror, is unlikely to have much sympathy for this.

Starmer is also unlikely to be pleased that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was able to defend his London constituency of Islington North as an independent candidate. Corbyn was head of the Social Democrats from 2015 to 2020 and did not make a good impression: party members blamed him for Brexit, and four years later he suffered a historic election defeat. He was expelled from the party for not taking a strong enough stance against anti-Semitic tendencies.

There are several construction sites waiting
In any case, some construction sites in Great Britain are waiting for Starmer. The economic situation in the country is characterized by low wages and a poor social system. The health care system has come to a complete standstill in many places, and not only because of Corona. The problem is home-made; the British economy is one of the weakest in terms of investment in the world.

And there is also a need for action on foreign policy. The relationship with the EU could be described as ‘complicated’ at best, also because the last few British prime ministers have been anything but adept in the fluid international arena. And if there is indeed an election winner Donald Trump on the other side of the pond in the autumn, that will not make communicating with the US any easier.