In a final push before Election Day, Labour chief Keir Starmer and Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spent Wednesday issuing dire economic warnings about their opponent’s potential victory, as they concluded their national campaign efforts.
According to opinion polls, Starmer’s Labour Party is poised for a landslide victory in the election on Thursday, potentially ending the Conservative government’s 14-year reign and ushering the center-left leader into the prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street.
Labour strategists, concerned about potential voter complacency or protest votes, issued a final appeal as polling stations prepared to open. In a statement, the party’s campaign coordinator Pat McFadden sought to remind the electorate of recent economic turmoil.
“Don’t forget the economic chaos for which the British people are still paying the price,” he said.
“If you vote Conservative, nothing will change. If you don’t vote at all or vote for another party, you run the risk of waking up on Friday to Rishi Sunak walking through the door to No 10 once again.”
Starmer has centered his campaign on a singular promise of “change”, resonating with a public frustrated by the UK’s current state of affairs, Reuters reported. His message addresses concerns over struggling public services and falling living standards, which are attributed to a sluggish economy and political instability.
During his 20-month tenure as prime minister, Sunak has sought to convince the electorate that he has steered the economy onto a path of recovery.
He argues that his leadership has effectively navigated the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while also bringing stability after years of turbulence under previous Conservative administrations.
Sunak claims that implementing Starmer’s proposed reforms would necessitate tax increases.
Specter of tax hikes
Unable to reduce Labour’s substantial lead of approximately 20 points in opinion polls, the Conservatives have shifted their strategy from pursuing outright victory to damage control, aiming to reduce the margin of their potential loss.
In the closing stages of their campaign, the Conservatives have cautioned that a decisive Labour victory would embolden Starmer to implement tax hikes beyond those already disclosed.
“The larger the scale of the supermajority, the easier it will be to ram through extreme policies — and the more tax rises will be inflicted on the British people,”
the Conservatives said in a statement.
On Tuesday, former prime minister Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance at a rally event to bolster support for the Conservative Party and Sunak.
Johnson argued that voting for Labour or backing right-wing party Reform on Thursday would “achieve nothing but usher in the most left-wing government since (World War II)”.
Sky News reported an average of all polls completed in the week up to Tuesday puts Labour on 40 percent, ahead of the Conservatives’ 21 percent, followed by Reform on 16 percent, the Liberal Democrats on 11 percent and the Greens on 6 percent.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday, former home secretary Suella Braverman said victory should no longer be the ambition for the Conservatives.
Braverman told Conservative supporters to prepare for losing the election.
“Thursday’s vote is now all about forming a strong enough opposition. One needs to read the writing on the wall: it’s over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition,” she said.
Speaking to Times Radio, Cabinet minister Mel Stride said, “Unless it’s an extraordinary upset, which is highly unlikely, you’re going to get a Labour government, you’re going to get the change.”
