As of: February 20, 2024, 1:34 p.m
By: Christian Stör
Comments
Press
Split
The people of Great Britain will probably elect a new parliament in 2024.
Polls predict a major defeat for Prime Minister Sunak's Conservatives.
There are reasons for that.
The Tories' last terms in office were marked by a lot of unrest.
A look back in pictures.
1 / 15 David Cameron led political Britain as Prime Minister for six years.
From May 11, 2010, he initially headed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats before ruling in the lower house with an absolute majority for his conservative party since 2015.
But his own party often made life difficult for him.
Cameron's faction in the House of Commons refused to support him on several occasions, for example on gay marriage or on reforming the House of Lords.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson and ex-party leader Ian Duncan Smith repeatedly accused him of weak leadership.
© Stefan Rousseau/afp
2 / 15Cameron's biggest problem was European policy.
He also failed to find a solution to this question, which has divided the Tories for decades.
At first he was still optimistic.
“I was always of the opinion that you have to approach big decisions and not shy away from them,” he said looking back.
But over time he made more and more concessions to the Eurosceptic wing of his party.
He was openly angry about the European Union and demonstratively opposed it in Brussels.
But none of it was useful.
© Stephane de Sakutin/afp
3 / 15In the end, Cameron would fail because of Europe.
In 2016, he put everything on one card with the referendum on whether the country should remain in the EU - and suddenly mutated into a champion of the European idea.
However, his compatriots didn't buy it.
Worse still: against his stated wishes, the people of Great Britain decided to leave the EU.
Brexit became Cameron's biggest defeat.
So all he could do was declare his resignation.
When he appeared in front of the cameras in front of Number 10 Downing Street alongside his wife Samantha on June 24, 2016, he was close to tears.
© Leon Neal/afp
4 / 15After the Brexit vote, Great Britain needed new leadership.
This is where Theresa May came into play.
The daughter of a vicar took office as David Cameron's successor on July 13, 2016.
She was often compared to the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel.
But all of these comparisons were flawed.
She was just a completely different type.
The three words she once chose to describe herself are significant: she is a “bloody difficult woman”.
© Dominic Lipinski/dpa
5 / 15As head of government, she was largely unlucky.
After the Brexit vote, many people in Europe and Great Britain hoped that they would still find a way out of the mess.
After all, May had spoken out in favor of remaining in the EU before the referendum.
However, she was no longer willing to compromise afterwards.
Their mantra was: “Brexit means Brexit.” And that meant leaving the EU internal market and the customs union.
Before the referendum, May had spoken out in favor of remaining in the EU.
© Stefan Rousseau/dpa
6 / 15Since May did not see a majority in parliament for her Brexit plans, she called a new election.
But the early general election in June 2017 turned into a disaster.
Her well-rehearsed appearance during the election campaign made her appear cold and stiff.
The result was bitter: it was a long way from the expected landslide victory against Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the Tories lost their absolute majority.
The official Tories historian Alistair Lexden gave her an extremely poor report in an article in February 2019: For him, May was the “worst leader of the Tories” ever.
She resigned from her position in July 2019.
© Tolga Akmen/afp
7 / 15From July 24, 2019, Boris Johnson tried to get Britain out of the Brexit mess.
He always had high goals.
Born in New York to an environmental consultant, as a child he wanted to be nothing less than "King of the World," according to Johnson's sister Rachel.
At least it was enough to become prime minister.
Johnson's life path was virtually predetermined.
He attended the elite school Eton and Oxford University, where he was a member of the infamous Bullingdon Club.
This is a legendary table party known for its hooliganism and drinking.
© Andrew Parsons/Imago
8 / 15After graduating, Johnson worked at the Times, but was fired after just a year - because he had falsified quotes.
But that didn't hurt his career.
In 1987 he joined the Daily Telegraph, where he was co-editor from 1994 to 1999.
He then moved to the conservative weekly The Spectator, which he served as editor until 2005.
During his time as Mayor of London (2008 to 2016) he also published a biography about his role model Winston Churchill.
But the criticism of the historian Richard J. Evans became better known as “The Churchill Factor”.
© Imago
My news
In tears, Navalny's widow makes a big announcement: "We will name names and show faces" read
“Sudden death syndrome”: Russia has new plans for Navalny’s corpse reading
“Historic” step: howitzers, grenades, promises – traffic light prepares Ukraine read more
2 hours ago
Son of Russian oligarch dies under mysterious circumstances
Payment card for asylum seekers: Habeck causes the next dispute - Kubicki threatens to break the traffic light
2 hours ago
“Really scary”: Before his death, Navalny warned about reading Donald Trump in his last letter
9 / 15 Things were always high at Johnson.
He's dangled down a zip line, tried tug-of-war, and rolled down a boy playing rugby.
Not to mention he once hid in a walk-in refrigerator to avoid an interview.
Since he took office, one scandal followed the next.
Johnson initially survived everything, including the “Partygate” affair involving illegal lockdown celebrations in Downing Street.
But an affair involving Johnson's party colleague Chris Pincher was the last straw.
The pressure from the party became too great and Johnson resigned in the summer of 2022.
© Andrew Parsons/Imago
10 / 15On September 6, 2022, Liz Truss took the helm in the UK.
Born in Oxford in 1975, Truss grew up in Paisley, Scotland, and Leeds, England.
Her father was a mathematics professor and her mother was a nurse, both of whom she once described as “left-wing.”
Her mother even took her to demonstrations against nuclear weapons.
But Truss rebelled against the political influence of her parents' house and initially joined the Liberal Democrats before switching to the Conservatives.
That was only logical, as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is considered her great role model.
© Victoria Jones/dpa
11 / 15Truss is considered extremely volatile.
This was also evident in the Brexit referendum.
After previously drumming up support for remaining in the EU, she was subsequently considered a convert (“born again Brexiteer”).
She also owed her rise to the position of Prime Minister with the Tories to this change of heart.
Like no other head of government before her, Truss tried to put the Brexit ideology into practice.
As soon as the shackles of the EU are thrown off and taxes are reduced, an almost fairytale economic growth should be triggered, so the theory goes.
© Kristy O`Connor/afp
12 / 15But all theory is gray.
When the government announced a mega package of tax relief, the value of the pound plummeted.
Treasury yields shot up.
The central bank had to intervene to save pension funds from collapse.
At this point, Truss had only been in office for 17 days.
The Economist magazine therefore certified Truss's shelf life for a salad.
The tabloid Daily Star made fun of it and placed a head of lettuce next to the Prime Minister's portrait in a live broadcast to see who would last longer.
The salad won.
© Imago
13 / 15 Liz Truss only remained in office for 45 days.
Then it was Rishi Sunak's turn.
Because of his background, his appointment as Prime Minister was seen as evidence of tolerance in the United Kingdom.
Sunak's grandparents are from India and emigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s.
In fact, in 1980, when Sunak was born in Southampton, there was not a single person of color in Parliament.
The Indian writer Pankaj Mishra was nevertheless critical in the Guardian: “His hasty promotion to 10 Downing Street is now encouraging brazen racists to pose as representatives of ethnic diversity.” © Geoff Caddick/afp
14 / 15In fact, the British government is not very sensitive towards minorities.
The best example is the asylum law that she wants to introduce.
The draft stipulates that all people who come to the UK irregularly, regardless of their origin, will be deported to Rwanda.
The Rwanda plan was a hobbyhorse of former Interior Minister Suella Braverman.
The representative of the right wing of the party, who also has Indian roots, once even said with a smile in the fall of 2022 that it was her “dream” that London would deport asylum seekers by plane to Rwanda before Christmas.
© Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS)/afp
15 / 15 Sunak's personal background as a former investment banker, whose wife is the daughter of one of the richest people in India, also causes mistrust.
Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik sarcastically tweeted that Sunak's inauguration sent a strong message to people of colour: "If you go to private school, amass a fortune, become the richest MP in Parliament and have a joint fortune with your wife that is greater than the King, you too can become Prime Minister.” © James Manning/afp