"Got Snacked" Early General Election Talk Erupts in UK... Conservative Party in Crisis

UK Conservative Party Support at 19%, Labour Party Records 56% Support
Prime Minister Without Two Consecutive General Elections Faces Rising Backlash Over Plummeting Approval Ratings

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Yoonjin Kim] Despite the formation of the new cabinet under UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, calls for an early general election have not subsided. Foreign media analyzed that the consecutive downfalls of Conservative Party prime ministers and the inauguration without a general election have sparked demands for a "leader reflecting the public will."

According to a poll conducted by UK online survey company YouGov on the 25th (local time), the day Sunak took office, 56% of respondents agreed with the statement "Prime Minister Sunak should hold an early general election." On the 21st, when former Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation, 63% supported holding an early general election. Opposition to an early election was 29% and 23%, respectively.

This public dissatisfaction is also related to the UK's political system. In the UK's parliamentary system, the leader of the majority party becomes the prime minister. Both former Prime Minister Truss and Prime Minister Sunak were elected as prime minister through Conservative Party member votes. The number of Conservative Party members is about 170,000, which is less than 1% of the UK's population of 67 million.

In particular, the fact that two consecutive prime ministers assumed office without a general election has led to claims that they are unable to reflect the public will. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also rose to power through an internal party election without a general election but secured a landslide victory for the Conservative Party in the 2019 early general election, winning 80 seats more than the majority. According to current UK law, the next UK general election must be held before January 24, 2025. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer supported an early general election on the 20th (local time), stating, "After 12 years of Conservative failure, the British people deserve something far better than this revolving door of chaos."

However, the consensus is that the Conservative Party, which is recording its worst approval ratings, is unlikely to respond to calls for an early general election. In a poll conducted by The Times and YouGov on the 20th-21st, 56% of respondents said they would vote for the Labour Party if an election were held tomorrow, while only 19% chose the Conservative Party. US political media outlet Politico cynically noted, "The UK’s political system and the Conservative Party’s plummeting approval ratings mean that public demands for an election will be ignored."

Given the bleak prospects in an early election, it is observed that the Conservative Party can only pin its hopes on Prime Minister Sunak. The New York Times (NYT) reported, "Even those who strongly opposed Sunak acknowledge that he is the only hope to avoid an (early) election in which hundreds of Conservative MPs would lose their seats." Joe Twyman of UK polling agency DeltaPoll told Politico, "(The current public opinion) does not look good for the Conservative Party. However, it is also not good for the Conservatives if the Labour Party gains a parliamentary majority."

In his first public speech after taking office on the 25th, Prime Minister Sunak emphasized that his authority is based on "the general election we (the Conservative Party) won," effectively drawing a line against demands for an early election. However, with an unprecedented economic crisis compounded by political turmoil, public dissatisfaction is expected to continue for the time being. The UK Guardian’s Sunday edition, The Observer, criticized, "The collapse within the Conservative Party must not cause new harm to the entire country," urging the Conservatives to recognize their responsibility in the national crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.