From NHS collapse to economic crisis, why Rishi Sunak lost the UK election

New Delhi:

Out with the old and in with the new (sort of), UK voters said on Friday, handing Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives a crushing general election defeat, stripping them of almost 250 seats in the House of Commons, with 650 seats. And Sir Keir Starmer Labor was given the keys to the castle.

Starmer and his “new” Labor Party will now form the next government. Addressing a crowd of party faithful at a victory rally in central London, he declared that the UK “reclaims its future”.

The scale of the Tory defeat is singular; In power for 14 years, the party was defeated in Wales and Scotland and saw some of its biggest leaders, including former First Minister Liz Truss, defeated.

Labor slide

But perhaps the most severe blow is the fact that the BBC reports that the Conservatives have lost seats, in the English counties, that they have held since the beginning of the 20th century. For example, Joe Morris of the Labor Party defeated Guy Opperman of the Conservative Party to end the Conservative Party’s 100-year term in the seat of Hexham.

READ | ‘I Am Sorry’: Rishi Sunak admits defeat in UK polls

The Conservatives are prepared for one of the worst results ever in a general election, and Labour, with more than 400 seats, the best. The exit polls predicted precisely this scenario, giving Starmer 405 seats.

Collapse of the Conservatives

Rishi Sunak, the outgoing prime minister, called early elections in May.

The warning signs were there then; in fact, they have been present for several weeks, if not months, beforehand, as UK voters grappled with a cost-of-living crisis, a growing immigration problem, and poor infrastructure and healthcare, among other issues. and the Conservatives have a serious image problem.

READ | Labor sweeps UK polls, Rishi Sunak’s first defeat since 2010

At that point, the Conservatives – asking the British public for permission to install a sixth Prime Minister since 2010 – were already 20 points behind a rejuvenated Labor, but Sunak seemed to believe he could close the gap. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Why did Labor beat the Conservatives?

Make your choice. But the collapse of the NHS, or National Health Service, and the state of the economy, and attendant concerns such as rising prices, top the list of reasons for defeat.

A poll carried out by the IPSOS Issues Index in June revealed that concerns about reduced funding for the NHS – a free public healthcare system that every other country would love to have – were top of the list, followed by the economy, immigration, price rises , housing and schools, defense and anti-terrorism and crime.

Sunak has achieved poor results on all these counts, including overseeing the country’s lowest growth rate since the start of the 19th century and a sharp rise in the cost of living, the highest in 41 years.

O British economy has slowed down significantly in the last decade, even taking into account the global crisis triggered by the Covid pandemic. GDP per capita grew just 4.3 percent between 2007 and 2023.

Over the previous 16 years, that number was a staggering 46%.

This meant income stagnation.

A report by the non-partisan think tank Centers for Cities indicated that Britons, on average, had £10,200 less to save or spend between 2010 and 2022, compared to 1998-2010 growth rates.

And the UK’s national debt – £2.7 trillion – is higher than at any time since the 1960s.

There seemed to be some relief soon; In May, the International Monetary Fund spoke of a “soft landing” for the economy and raised its growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points, to 0.7.

And it was, perhaps, on the basis of this expectation that Mr Sunak called for early elections.

O National Health Service is seen by many as the crowning glory of the British government’s public services.

Funding for the UK’s free national healthcare system, the NHS, has been a key issue (File).

The Conservatives repeatedly highlighted the importance of the NHS, but this concern did not seem to translate into on-the-ground support for doctors, nurses and medical professionals.

Budget allocations under the Conservatives paint a clear picture. Since they came to power in 2010, healthcare spending has grown by an average of 2.8 percent per year, compared with 3.6 percent over the past 50 years. This includes the pandemic period.

In April, there were around 7.6 million people waiting for treatment under the NHS programme, of which more than 50,000 had been on the list for more than a year. The average waiting time was 14 weeks.

The number of people waiting for medical help, including those with serious conditions, has tripled under the conservative regime, according to NHS data published by Al Jazeera.

Brexit also had a say, with movement restrictions meaning that medical professionals from continental Europe could not be hired or chose not to apply. As horrible as it sounds, it was good news for India, with the NHS turning to its former colony to fill more than 2,000 doctor posts.

Immigration was also a problem. Sunak’s government had promised to crack down on illegal entry into the UK, but his Rwanda policy – which was supposed to act as a major deterrent – failed to deliver.

In fact, two years after its announcement, not a single plane took off for the African nation.

According to Sky Newsthe Conservatives spent more than £300 million on this scheme, which they said would stop illegal immigrants entering the UK in small boats across the English Channel.

Under this policy, captured people would be sent to Rwanda while they seek asylum.

At the end of March, a total of 1.18 lakh people were awaiting an initial decision on their application.

The rise cost of living and shooting House Pricesas well as steep increases in rental pricesThey have also been a problem that conservatives have seemed unable to control.

Truss, Johnson contributions

It wasn’t just Sunak’s failures that led to the Conservatives’ downfall.

Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Conservatives and prime minister in July 2019, shortly before the pandemic. His disheveled appearance and chaotic leadership precipitated a revolt by his ministers and, of course, the ‘Partygate’ scandal concerning parties at 10, Downing Street during lockdown.

Johnson resigned in June last year following an investigation he called a “witch hunt”.

The Conservatives’ last three prime ministers – Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson (Archive).

He was followed by Truss – the UK’s fourth female PM and shortest-serving leader.

READ | UK in crisis: why the country saw 3pm in 3 years

Mrs Truss – who lost her seat in south-west Norfolk – faced criticism for the way she managed the economy, including a controversial mini-budget which led to market turmoil. Her leadership was further undermined by policy upheavals and a loss of trust among MPs.

And now for work?

Mr Starmer’s leadership was instrumental in the revival of the Labor Party.

Since taking office in early 2020, he has repositioned the party at the center and resolved problems within the party that include infighting and anti-Semitism.

Looking ahead, he will want to avoid repeating the Tories’ mistakes, including those of October 2022, when the Truss government proposed unfunded tax cuts that spooked markets and sank the pound.

This reckless attitude cost him his job.

“We did it. Thank you really… you changed our country,” Starmer told triumphant supporters at a victory rally in central London. “(But) a mandate like this comes with great responsibility… Today we begin the next chapter… we begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal, and we begin to rebuild.”

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