Yet, despite the overwhelming majority of Labour, the elections also revealed a divided, uncertain nation. And the rise of ‘alternatives’.
After 14 years in power, the Conservatives in the United Kingdom have been toppled. The result inevitable, it was expected. What was not evitable in the inevitable was the decisive rout. The world’s most successful political party—which since 1945 has been in power twice as long as it’s been out of it—has been shunted back into opposition. In a combination of disruption caused by Brexit, followed by a pandemic, leading to astonishing period of political and financial turbulence that ushered in three Prime Ministers in just one year, the Conservatives were reduced to 120 seats- its worst performance in its history. While the Labour went ‘400 paar’ under the tutelage of Sir Keir Starmer. The tsunami of number was shocking but welcoming. For a Labour government only comes once in a generation.
According to Economist, the Labour gained seats in all corners of Britain, defeating Conservative candidates in constituencies that had been blue since the 19th century. Several prominent figures — including cabinet members and former Prime Minister Liz Truss —lost their seats. But with a mammoth majority of Labour over Conservative, the transfer of power was smooth.
Keir Starmer, a prosecutor-turned-politician, became Britain’s 58th Prime Minister ushering Britain into the time of ‘change’.
The British summer and only became more pleasant. The sweetness of the hope has mingled within the freshness of summer. While most of Europe advances towards far right, America getting tilted (again) towards Trump, the victory of Labour has been all the more sweet and welcoming. A victory that offers a hopeful chance to construct a modern liberal social democratic project that offers light in the global gloom.
Yet, despite the overwhelming majority of Labour, the elections also revealed a divided, uncertain nation. And the rise of ‘alternatives’.
Previously elections in Britain were contested between reasonably stable coalitions of Labour and Conservative voters, that were defined mostly by class. However, since 2015 elections, things have been very different. It had involved one or more parties assembling a flimsy, single-use coalition of support, which subsequently fell apart. The Tory coalition of 2019 collapsed catastrophically in all directions, driven by impatience with chaos, economic stagnation and declining public services. In this election the Lib dem won 71 seats but what made the result more interesting and intriguing was the division of the rightwing vote between the Conservatives and Reform UK. This is the first election, with the arguable exception of 2015, in which the right has been splintered the way the centre-left so often has throughout British political history. Resultant the Conservatives won around 24%, its lowest vote share in modern history, because Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, won an estimated 14% of all votes cast. While the Labour vote share stood at 34%.
However, it is the low voter turnout which signals towards a divided nation. The Brits – as many other countries this election season have been – too are disenchanted with politics and their representative. They found no party exciting or re-assuring. The Labour ‘change’ slogan did not hit the chord as it should have after 14 defeatist years of Tories. Meanwhile the Conservatives were too involved in their own politics, while its supporters too exhausted to endorse at this election. The voters thus refused to line up behind either main party. Competing for the centre ground has led to revolts from the right against the Tories and from the left against Labour – and the traditional centre was attracted to the Lib Dems’ campaigning verve and emphasis on issues such as water pollution. It was only a few constituencies where the competition was solely between the two main parties. In the rest there was a kaleidoscopic range of contests – Labour against independents and Greens, Conservatives against Reform, Labour against Reform, Conservatives against Lib Dem, Labour against SNP, Labour against independent. Resultant the proportion of MPs having the support of more than 50% of voters slumped.
The overall turnout for the general election was thus the lowest it has been for more than 20 years. Just 59.9% of the population voted, a sharp decrease from the 67.3% that voted in the 2019 election. It was the worst turnout at a general election since 2001, when just 59.4% showed up to the polls – the lowest since before World War II.
Labour though has a strong parliamentary majority, has a thin and fragile standing among the electorate. It can ill afford to dispense with any component of the coalition that produced that majority, but “to govern is to choose”. It will be impossible to deal with Britain’s problems without risking the collapse of this rickety electoral edifice. Perhaps one can be optimistic, and argue that the choices made, if they are successful, will create the route to a more durable electoral majority.
