LONDON — British opposition leader Keir Starmer gave his first major speech of the UK election campaign on Monday, telling undecided voters they can trust his Labor Party to safeguard the country’s economy, borders and security.
Starmer is the favorite to win the July 4 election, with polls giving Labor a double-digit lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives.
But many voters remain undecided, and Starmer sought to address the perception that the centre-left Labor Party is weaker on defense and security than the centre-right Conservatives.
“The very foundation of any good government is economic security, border security and national security,” Starmer said during a speech in the coastal town of Lancing, on the south coast of England. “This is the foundation, the foundation on which our manifesto and our first steps will be built.”
Starmer accused the Conservatives of presiding over “desperate chaos”. Britain’s first election since 2019 follows several turbulent years that saw a global pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Those international crises were exacerbated by problems of the Conservatives’ own making: a series of ethics scandals that toppled Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022 and the disastrous economic policies of his successor Liz Truss, who lasted just 49 days in office.
Sunak had until December to call an election and took most people, including those in his own party, by surprise when he announced last week that the vote would take place on July 4. Voters will elect lawmakers to fill the 650 seats in the House of Representatives. The common ones. The leader of the party that can achieve a majority in the House of Commons, either alone or in a coalition, will become prime minister.
The Conservatives, who have been in power for 14 years, are trying to overcome a widespread sense that voters want change, and Sunak’s campaign got off to a shaky start. His announcement at 10 Downing Street left him drenched in rain and drowned out by protesters playing a Labor campaign song.
Sunak made headlines over the weekend with the announcement that all 18-year-olds in Britain will have to undertake a year of compulsory military or civil service if the Conservatives are re-elected. The prime minister said the program would help “create a sense of shared purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country”.
The party faced questions about how the program would work and whether it could be made mandatory.
Starmer said the ad reflected the Conservatives’ “desperation” to shore up their vote.
The Labor Party has lost four elections in a row, in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, and party leaders fear taking their lead in the polls for granted.
Starmer, a lawyer and former chief prosecutor for England and Wales, remains an unknown for many voters. In his speech he highlighted his working class roots as the son of a tool maker and a nurse who was the first in his family to go to university.
He said he had transformed the Labor Party, moving it to the center after taking over the leadership in 2020 from staunch socialist Jeremy Corbyn.
“Regardless of what the polls say, I know there are countless people who haven’t decided how they will vote in this election,” Starmer said. “They are fed up with Tory failure, chaos and division, but they still have questions about us: has the Labor Party changed enough? Do I trust them with my money, our borders, our security?
“My answer is yes it can, because I have changed this party, permanently,” he added. “This is my vision: a Britain once again serving workers. “First the country, then the party.”
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