“Behind The Votes” UK Election Part 1: A Revolving Door of PMs
The five Tory PMs over the 13 years of the party's power | Credit: PA/EPA/Getty
The UK election in July demonstrated just how much the English political climate has changed over the 14 years of Tory rule in the country. With many complex elements, I will aim to explain the lead up that led to the landslide win for Labour and what this means for the country going forward.
The Not So Foreign Political System
The UK parliament has two houses: the lower house, also known as the House of Commons, is the one that members are elected to, and the upper house, also known as the House of Lords, which consists of unelected members. When the UK goes to an election, it is for the 650 seats in the House of Commons. When elected, candidates just have to receive the most votes, rather than reach a 50% threshold.
This differs from Australia, which has a preferential voting system that passes down the votes until someone has reached 50%. Similarly to Australia, the UK has two major parties, the Tories, centre-right, and Labour, centre-left. Once either of these parties has reached a majority of seats in the lower house, they form a government. The leader of that party is then invited by the monarch to become the Prime Minister, and this is done by convention. Political conventions are basically traditions that are followed but are not necessarily enforced by law.
There are many similarities between the UK and Australian systems, mainly due to the colonial history of Australia and the many conventions and systems that they have inherited from the UK. These systems of government are referred to as the Westminster system as they are derived from the UK meeting place of parliament, the Palace of Westminster.
Prime Minister 1: David Cameron
Former British PM David Cameron | Credit: GETTY Images
The Tory, or conservative, party in the UK have held power for the past 14 years. David Cameron, whose name may be familiar for launching the Brexit referendum, was elected on the platform of appealing to the centre voters. He also argued that Labor no longer supported workers due to tax increases and that the Liberal Democrats, the central party in the UK, were too idealistic and would not be able to follow through on their promises. Further, Cameron chose to omit many of the cuts and changes he and the Tories would make over the next decade and a half from the manifesto. Instead, it was mostly composed of minor proposals while also pushing for economic reform due to a deficit from the previous Labour government.
Cameron ended up with a hung parliament and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, resulting in a fairly progressive term of government. Policy such as same-sex marriage was passed and there was a reduction in public borrowing across the country. However, this first term set the tone for continuous cuts to government services including the beloved National Health Service and educational services. Then, in 2015 at the next general election, while Labor had split strategies to win the election, the Tories focused on the marginal seats where they could win the majority, and on the middle-upper class in England. Crucially, Cameron campaigned that if he won the election, he would hold a referendum to decide if the UK should leave the EU.
Prime Minister 2: Theresa May
Former British PM Theresa May | Credit: GETTY Images
Twelve months after he won the election, he announced a referendum to be held in June 2016, however, he will campaign for the UK to remain in the EU. Throughout the campaign, cracks began to appear in the Tory party, and Boris Johnson, a key member of the Tory party, split from his Prime Minister and opted to campaign for the UK to leave. He and Nigel Farage, a key conservative figure, campaigned on the basis they could still have trade relations with Europe without the need to support the EU. Most importantly for their campaign, they argued it would reduce migration numbers, a growing concern of Brits at the time. When the Leave campaign succeeded, Cameron stepped down, seeing that Britain needed new leadership for this new time. Theresa May then came in, during a time of uncertainty, to guide the UK through one of the most tumultuous economic times it had experienced.
Due to the issues that Brexit brought, May decided in 2017 that she would call another general election. The move worked against her, and she lost her 12-person majority, and was forced to form a working majority with the Democratic Unionist party. However, due to continued tension within the Tory party, May was unable to convince the party to vote for the deal she had struck with the EU. She was eventually forced to step down due to the gridlock that had occurred. Johnson was next up, and his first choice was to unlawfully shut down parliament for five weeks during Brexit negotiations. Johnson followed in the steps of his predecessor and decided to call another election in 2019, the third in the space of four years. Johnson ended up winning the majority by uniting the seats who had voted leave with his values for the Tory party. However, in the lead up to the election, Labour came under investigation for anti-Semitism within the party. With Johnson now in the majority, he pushed through a deal with the EU, one that was widely considered rushed and ill-formed.
Prime Minister 3: Boris Johnson
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson | Credit: EPA/Andy Rain
However, only a few months after Johnson got his deal through parliament, the world was struck by the unthinkable. COVID-19 had emerged, and Johnson chose to ignore health advice and rely on herd-immunity as the solution to his problems. His lack of policy action in the initial stages contributed to 27,000 deaths across the UK. However, when he did choose to take action, it was slow and unable to react to the changing context. To be fair, no one around the world had dealt with an issue like this, however, Johnson’s lack of action exacerbated the issue. The country ended up being in lockdown for a total of six months, destroying not only the mental health of its citizens but also the economy. With reports from across the government of COVID laws being broken, including by the chief advisor and Johnson himself, and the large-scale deaths along with the economic destruction, the British population lost faith in Johnson. However, party-gate, when a group of MPs and staffers, including Johnson, held a party at Downing Street when restrictions were at their harshest, left Johnson no choice but to resign.
Prime Minister 4: Liz Truss
Former British PM Liz Truss | Credit: GETTY Images
We then reach the ever-memorable Liz Truss, the shortest serving PM in British history. Her self-implosion happened when her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, presented a mini budget which resulted in the British pound crashing. Her plans proposed providing 45 billion pounds of tax cuts for the rich, while the lower classes were struggling with the inflation brought on by COVID spending and the war in Europe. The decision has since led to interest rate rises and large-scale inflation across the country. Truss was forced to resign after just seven weeks in office, shorter than the life of a lettuce.
Prime Minister 5: Rishi Sunak
Former British PM Rishi Sunak | Credit: Jeff J Mitchell GETTY Images
After a leadership contest, Rishi Sunak, a previous investment-banker and multimillionaire, was chosen to be the next leader. Despite the irony of a man with his wealth leading the country while many Brits were struggling to put food on the table, Sunak was able to provide some certainty to the country. He slowed down inflation and put the UK economy back on the straight and narrow. However, he borrowed a slogan well known by Australians: ‘stop the boats’. Sunak adopted a similar plan to that seen in Australia, and signed a deal with Rwanda to send asylum seekers entering the UK on boats there. After the Supreme Court declared it was illegal as Rwanda was not a safe country, Sunak skirted the issue by passing legislation declaring that it was. However, due to the 1.8-million-pound cost per person, so far no one has been asked to leave the UK.
That recap of the past 14 years in UK politics it brings us to the 2024 general election. See Part 2 for a recap on the results of the 2024 UK general election.
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