As of: January 31, 2024, 8:46 p.m
By: Sandra Kathe
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Great Britain's exit from the EU has been official for exactly four years, and the country has been struggling with repeated crises ever since.
This also has an impact on the upcoming elections.
London - Between the rising cost of living, high inflation, a lack of workers, regular strikes in many industries and over-indebted households, Great Britain is facing a whole range of problems in the year of its next general election.
As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlights the many plans of his current government alongside announcing a planned election date for the second half of the year, the opposition is preparing to take over the country's political reins.
While the governing Tories, then still under Boris Johnson, achieved a landslide victory with over 43 percent of the vote at the last election in 2019, the current election polls see the party in difficulties just over four years later.
At the end of 2021, the rival Labor Party had already overtaken the conservative Tories in the polls for the first time in years. At the end of January, according to poll analysis by the newspaper
Politico
, the Tories were just 25 percent behind the 45 percent strong Labor Party.
Big political plans for Great Britain: Sunak is in no hurry for the elections
This may also be due to the fact that Prime Minister Sunak is currently keeping a low profile about an election date and at the beginning of the year, in addition to an announcement that elections would probably take place "in the second half of the year", he pointed out his government's numerous plans.
Comprehensive tax cuts, programs against illegal migration, strengthening the British economy.
Opposition leader Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Current election polls suggest a change of government in Great Britain is likely.
(Archive photo) © Stefan Rousseau/AFP
The fact that it has been weakening in various areas for years is due not only to global crises but also to the British exit from the EU, which took place exactly four years ago on January 31, 2020 and continues to bring new surprises for people and companies in the country.
Transition periods and special permits have now applied to numerous areas, which are now gradually ending.
New Brexit regulations: Stricter import controls and entry visas
An acute innovation that will come into force on the Brexit anniversary in 2024 after several postponements is a new control requirement for animal and plant imports as well as animal foods at the border, which costs companies time and money and has led many delivery companies to to reconsider exports to the island in the future.
A new system for entering Great Britain is also expected to be introduced at the end of the year, which also promises more administrative work.
Even after years, some of the changes that have been implemented so far have not really taken root.
For years, the media has repeatedly reported on long queues of trucks at the border and interrupted supply chains.
For these reasons, rising food prices are also closely linked to Brexit and its consequences.
General elections in Great Britain: When to vote at the latest
Many experts see this and the surveys that show a majority of Britons are now critical of leaving the EU as one of the most important reasons why the Tories will most likely have to lose their parliamentary majority after years in government.
However, while an early re-entry into the EU seems unlikely even under Labor leader Keir Starmer, many are still hoping for new customs union negotiations that could resolve some administrative hurdles and problems for the time being.
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The fact that there is still no specific date for the elections is due to electoral laws in the United Kingdom.
The current rule is that Parliament must be dissolved on the fifth anniversary of the first session of the House of Commons.
That would be the case on December 17th this year.
There is then a period of 25 working days during which elections must be held at the latest.
The last possible day for the general elections would be January 28, 2025. (saka)