Britain has had a Conservative Government for the past 14 years. David William Donald Cameron had become the Prime Minister with the help of the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 Parliamentary Elections. Conservative leaders also won three consecutive General Elections in 2015, 2017 and 2019. After Cameron (in 2015), Theresa Mary May and Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson guided the Tories to win Parliamentary Polls single-handedly. Mary Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Truss became the Conservative leader and also served as Prime Minister for just seven weeks after Johnson resigned (as the PM) in September 2022. Thereafter, Rishi Sunak took charge of the British Government!

In the 2024 Parliamentary Elections, Conservatives managed to win just 122 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons. Many feel that the Britons are frustrated (even angry) with the performance of the Conservative Government for the last 14 years. Hence, the anti-incumbency factor has played an important role in the defeat of the Tories. In fact, Sunak surprised everyone by announcing the date of fresh Parliamentary Elections before the scheduled date. He had time till January 28, 2025 to hold the elections. However, the Conservative leader decided to play a gamble, keeping in mind the slight recovery of the British Economy in recent times! However, his decision has backfired. Public anger against the Conservative Government increased even during the election campaign, and did not subside.

However, Sunak is not solely responsible for the election debacle of his party. His predecessors – May, Johnson and especially Truss – also failed to boost the National Economy. Perhaps, the Britons, who badly wanted a change, thought that any other party would be far better than the Conservative Party! Therefore, it seems that the Conservatives would have lost this election even if Sunak was not there. In actuality, the British Economy has failed to absorb the so-called external shocks, such as the Brexit, the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War. Sunak tried his best to convince his countrymen that he, and not Labour leader (and Prime Minister-elect) Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, could save Britain from the ongoing crises.

Interestingly, no one wants to talk openly about one of the main reasons for the defeat of Conservatives. It is difficult to ignore the issue of hatred in Europe, including Britain, with the rise of Far-Rights across the continent. The Far-Rights performed really well in the recent European Parliament Elections. Nigel Paul Farage formed a new Right-Winged populist party, called the Reform UK, just before the 2024 Parliamentary Elections in Britain. As expected, Farage’s Reform UK Party advocated Far-Right policies to win the election. During the election campaign, Farage reportedly said that Sunak “does not know our history, does not understand it“! With this remark, he projected his Them versus Us ideology. However, the majority of the Britons are not racist (at least openly). The outcome of the elections has shown how fragile Farage’s idea is. The question arises here: Are people, like Farage, really a Small Minority?

Sunak became Prime Minister as the Parliamentary Leader of the Conservatives, voted only by his party members. Initially, he was the Second in Command, after Liz Truss. Had there been a US-style election or a Brexit-like Referendum in Britain, Sunak might not be the leader of his party. He performed well as the Finance Secretary and also adopted a number of important policies as the Prime Minister. Still, his countrymen did not bring his party to power.

It can be said that Sunak (and his Conservative Party) has lost the election to Farage. Although the Labour Party has won (412) 212 more seats than in the 2019 election, it has managed to get only 1.6% more of the total vote! Then, whom did the votes of the Conservatives go? It is to be noted that the Reform UK has won only four seats in the House of Commons, but it has received 14.3% of the total vote. As far as the voting percentage is concerned, Farage’s party has finished third!

Farage has claimed that this is just the beginning, as he is there for the long race! Whether or not that is true, the number of votes in favour of the Reform UK does not make it look like a Conservative leader will be in No. 10 Downing Street for decades to come.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das