London: The Conservative Party, which has been in power in the United Kingdom for around 15 years, faces a mounting task while heading into the general elections under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's leadership, with most polls predicting the return of a Labour government in the country for the first time since 2010. A record number of candidates - more than 4,000 - are campaigning for the July 4 general election across the country.
Polling suggests the vote will result in a Labour majority after more than a decade of Conservative rule under five leaders, including current PM Rishi Sunak and David Cameron, now foreign secretary, Al Jazeera reported.
But there is an intensifying atmosphere of division as the hard-right party Reform, led by populist leader Nigel Farage, appears on track to improve on its performance in the 2019 elections, when it was known as the Brexit Party. Economic stagnation, a housing crisis, the cost of living, immigration and foreign policy concerns are among the major issues in the elections.
The past 15 years have seen the worst income growth in the UK for generations, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
"It has been slow growth for essentially everyone - rich and poor, old and young. This means that even while income inequality has been stable, progress on reducing absolute poverty has been painfully slow," Tom Waters, an associate director of the IFS, said in late May.
In recent years, Britons have also been battling a cost-of-living crisis as prices surge and salaries stagnate.
The Conservative and Labour parties have set out differing routes to fix the economy.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has announced plans to reform the National Health Service, home-building system, energy sector and other key industries. His party has also promised 7.4 billion pounds (USD 9.4 billion) in tax rises to invest in these sectors.
For the Conservatives, a promise of 17 billion pounds (USD 21.6 billion) per year of tax cuts has been made, including 2 percentage points off the main rate of National Insurance contributions, a mandatory tax on salaries.
Meanwhile, rising property prices, rent hikes and a lack of affordable new builds are the reasons behind a years-long housing crisis.
According to the Local Government Association, the number of temporary accommodations due to the shortage of social housing rose by 89 percent in the 10 years until March 2023.
The growing pressure on local councils to support the public intensified through austerity measures intended to reduce the government's budget deficit that were implemented when a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power in 2010.
Mia Gray, an economic geography professor at the University of Cambridge, told Al Jazeera that Britain is in the grip of "an affordable housing crisis".
To remedy the situation, the Conservatives have pledged to build 1.6 million new homes if they win the general election.
On the other hand, Labour officials have said they will restore local house-building targets, which were scrapped in 2023, with an aim to construct 1.5 million new homes in the coming years. Health is another crucial issue going into the elections. According to YouGov's "most important issues" tracker for Britons ahead of the vote, the issue is second only to the cost of living, with 34 per cent of respondents listing it. The official number of people on waiting lists for treatment on the National Health Service (NHS) stood at 7.6 million in April this year - only slightly down from last September's record high of 7.8 million.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people waiting more than four hours to see a doctor at Accident & Emergency departments of hospitals in the UK - a key indicator used to measure the NHS - has risen steadily over the 14 years that the ruling Conservative Party has been in power. While it stood at about 6 per cent at the start of 2011, it passed 50 per cent in December 2022 and has only come back down to about 42 per cent now.
In their manifesto for the general election, the Conservatives have promised to increase the budget for the NHS but, for many, it is too little, too late.
The issue of immigrants will also play a crucial role in the poll campaign. Al Jazeera cited a recent YouGov poll carried out for Sky News, which suggested that 43 per cent of Britons believe immigration has a negative impact on society, compared with 35 per cent who said the effect of immigration is positive.
The Conservatives have repeatedly pledged to crack down on the number of people arriving through 'irregular' means, such as those who cross the English Channel from France on small boats, Al Jazeera reported. On Wednesday, the party was dealt a blow as official figures showed 882 people arrived in this way, the highest daily toll since late 2022.
Sunak's government has backed a highly controversial plan, the 'Rwanda Plan', to deport undocumented people to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed there. But the deal has been blocked several times by courts that ruled the plan "unlawful".
In the two years since it was announced, no flights have taken off to Rwanda. Sunak says the first flight will leave on July 24 at the earliest, assuming he wins the election.
On the other hand, the Labour Party has said that if it wins, the Rwanda plan will be scrapped. But, at the same time, it has promised to cut down net migration figures without elaborating on how it will do so. (ANI)
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