Britain | Paranoid android

Could the Labour Party blow its big opportunity?

Sir Keir Starmer’s party is terrified of letting victory slip through its fingers

Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks at an event
Photograph: Reuters

Britain will hold a general election on July 4th. Announcing the news in Downing Street on May 22nd, his expression plaintive and his jacket soaked with rain, Rishi Sunak had the air of a man who knew what the result would be. Since he took office in October 2022, the prime minister has tried anything and everything to reverse the Conservative Party’s ailing poll numbers—diligent promises to reduce inflation and health-care waiting lists; bellicose swagger about deporting migrants; an offer of stability, then change, then stability again. To no avail.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The door to Number 10 opens”

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From the May 25th 2024 edition

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