Historic result

Why Labour won and Farage has a good laugh too

Labor leader Keir Starmer can celebrate, but right-wing populist Nigel Farage is also having a good laugh.

(Bild: AFP)

An absolute majority (410 seats) in parliament for the Labour Party, a historic defeat for the Conservatives, who lost over 240 seats and currently have 119 seats. This time, no stone was left unturned in the UK election. And right-wing populist and "Mister Brexit" Nigel Farage also had a good laugh on Thursday evening ...

Things have not been too good for the former world power Great Britain in recent years. Brexit, economic crisis, political scandals before, during and after corona - now the ruling Conservatives have been presented with the bill.

For 14 years, the Tories have held the reins in England since David Cameron won the election in 2010. Five years later, Cameron even won an absolute majority with his promise to let the British vote on remaining in the EU. However, what followed is likely to have heralded the decline of the Tories. 

Brexit referendum as the beginning of the end
As is well known, the Brexit referendum was lost and the British voted to leave the EU, partly due to the populist campaigning of Farage and the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson for the Brexiteers.

The Brexit vote ushered in a chaotic phase of British domestic politics.

(Bild: The Associated Press)

This heralded the most chaotic phase of British domestic politics, with several changes of prime minister and early general elections as well as the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Although polls show that a majority of Britons now reject the exit, Labor leader Keir Starmer does not want to reverse it. However, the EU supporter wants closer relations with the EU states, albeit without membership of the customs union and the single market - which would also be good for the British economy.

What cost Sunak the election
But even though the social democratic Labour Party performed strongly, the British are also divided. Apart from a failed asylum policy (keyword: Rwanda pact) and the scandals surrounding former Prime Minister Johnson and other high-ranking party members, the rise of the right-wing populists is likely to be one of the factors that cost still-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the election.

Sunak suffered a heavy defeat in the election - which was not entirely his own fault ...

(Bild: AFP)

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

The Conservative incumbent Giles Watling lost 44 percentage points to 27.9%. Before Farage, the Tory defector Lee Anderson was declared the winner in Ashfield in central England. Anderson, who was suspended by the Tories for making anti-Muslim statements, thus became the UK's first elected right-wing populist MP.

Farage is jubilant: "This is just the first step"
"This is just the first step of something that will shock you all," said Farage in his victory speech. There is a "massive gap in the right-wing political spectrum and my job is to fill it". "This Labour government will be in trouble very soon", Farage announced with a view to the victorious opposition party. He said that he wanted to win voters away from Labour, especially as there had already been no enthusiasm for the party in this election. Instead, Reform UK had achieved "something truly extraordinary" in a matter of weeks and without funding. "We came second in hundreds of constituencies."

Nigel Farage celebrated his entry into parliament with a declaration of war.

(Bild: AFP)

Indeed, one BBC presenter declared Reform UK's strong showing the "story of the night". It outperformed the Tories in numerous constituencies, contributing significantly to Labour's successes. However, due to the majority voting system, Reform UK is only likely to win four seats. The Liberal Democrats fared much better, gaining 71 seats and overtaking the Scottish National Party as the third strongest party. The latter was massively reduced to just nine seats.

Palestine policy cost Starmer votes
Labour also suffered one or two setbacks. Party leader Starmer, of all people, suffered a massive loss in his constituency due to a protest vote against his Palestine policy. Starmer had repeatedly spoken out in favour of a two-state solution, most recently when Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized Palestine as a state. Although he is likely to please the left wing of his party, the British population, which has been repeatedly battered by radical Islamist terror, is unlikely to have much sympathy for this. 

Labor leader Keir Starmer put up a poster for "change" - now he has a number of construction sites waiting for him.

(Bild: AFP)

Starmer is also unlikely to be happy that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was able to defend his London constituency of Islington North as an independent candidate. Corbyn was leader of the British Social Democrats from 2015 to 2020 and did not cut a good figure: party colleagues blamed him for Brexit and four years later he suffered a historic election defeat. He was kicked out of the party for not taking strong enough action against anti-Semitic tendencies.

A number of construction sites await
In any case, Starmer has some work to do in the United Kingdom. The economic situation in the country is characterized by low wages and a poor social system. The healthcare system came to a complete standstill in many places, and not just because of coronavirus. The problem is home-made; the British economy is one of the weakest in the world in terms of investment. 

And there is also a need for action in foreign policy. The relationship with the EU could at best be described as "complicated", partly because the last British prime ministers were anything but skillful in the slippery international arena. And if Donald Trump does win the election on the other side of the pond in the fall, this is unlikely to make communication with the USA any easier.