Labor is likely to return to power in the UK

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dissolved Parliament and called for early elections in the country on July 4. According to the current calendar, the election is due in January 2025. This would make Sunak the fourth British Prime Minister in 22 months if he is not re-elected.

The announcement surprised even members of his party, the Conservatives. Chung took over at the end of 2022 after Liz Truss’ disastrous tenure, which lasted just 49 days thanks to his economic policies that rocked financial markets. Truss was elected by party members after Boris Johnson was ousted by a series of scandals.

Sunak’s centre-right party has seen its support steadily decline after 14 years in power. The party has struggled to overcome a series of post-Brexit crises, including an economic slowdown, ethics scandals and the musical chairs of leaders over the past two years.

The centre-left Labor Party is the favorite in the polls to defeat Sunak’s party. Labor leader Keir Starmer, a former attorney-general for England and Wales, is the current favorite due to his back-to-back defeats for the Conservatives in local elections earlier this month.

Voters across the United Kingdom elect all 650 members of the House of Commons for up to five years. The party that wins a majority in Parliament alone or in coalition forms the next government and its leader is the Prime Minister.

After all, what does it mean for Labor to return to power in the UK? What are the challenges facing the next prime minister? In today’s ‘Estadão Notícias’, we will talk about this subject with Carolina Pavés, PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, Professor of International Relations at the ESPM.

Available at ‘Estadão Notícias’ Spotify, Teaser, Apple Podcasts, Google PodcastsOr on the podcast aggregator of your choice.

Presented by: Emanuel Bomfim

Production/Editing: Gustavo Lopes, Jefferson Perleberg and Gabriela Forte

Sound/Editing: Moacir Biasi