UK set for bruising general election on December 12

Parliament has approved legislation setting the date of the election, which is set to pit two divisive politicians against each other in an already polarised political climate, with Brexit likely to dominate the campaign

EU and Union flags fly outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on October 29, 2019
AFP

EU and Union flags fly outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on October 29, 2019

The UK Parliament has now legislated that it will hold a general election on December 12, something the sitting Conservative government has been preparing for since the summer. 

Both the Conservative and Labour party MPs are nervous about this election, very few wanted it given the volatile mood in the country.

Labour Party MPs are nervous because the party lags behind the Conservative Party by a 10 percentage point margin on 25 percent of the vote with the Conservatives on 35 percent. 

Another reason many in the Labour Party did not want the vote is because of the chaos, unclear messaging and crippling infighting that has now spilled into the open with the largest anti-Brexit group, the People’s Vote, in open internal wrangling over the direction of the campaign. 

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a lukewarm EU enthusiast, after stalling government attempts at an early election three times, finally agreed once Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed that the UK would not crash out of the EU.

Johnson, who has been running a minority government for the last few months, finally managed to get an election that had been rebuffed by the UK parliament and had paralysed his government. 

Issues in forthcoming elections

Johnson’s main campaign slogan will likely be “get Brexit done” a message he hopes to bank on given the three arduous years that Brexit has taken up and the resulting weariness it has caused. 

He will likely have plenty of ammunition and will suggest that parliament has frustrated him again and again in his attempt to get “get Brexit done”. 

Johnson had earlier indicated that he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than ask the EU for a delay to Brexit past the October 31 deadline. 

In a humiliating climbdown, but one which he can suggest parliament forced him into, he sent a letter to the EU for an extension

The Labour Party, on the other hand, has struggled to put forth a clear message on Brexit. At a party conference last month the party finally settled on a position that it would negotiate a closer relationship with the EU than the current government has and then it would put it up to a referendum. 

Whether such a strategy would work remains to be seen, but several critics have pointed out that voters are tired of the Brexit process and Labour’s position would likely only extend the process. 

Both parties will also seek to focus on domestic politics.

Johnson will take note that the previous Theresa May government failed to focus on domestic politics in the 2017 election. As a result of that, the party lost seats and was forced into a coalition government. This was in contrast to the Corbyn’s Labour Party, which focused significantly on domestic politics. 

Both party leaders are good election campaigners, however, they are also very divisive in an already polarised electorate. 

Brexit turmoil continues 

Since the UK voted in the 2016 referendum to leave the EU, consecutive governments have struggled to deliver on it. 

The saga has also led to increased political extremism on both the remain and leave sides of the debate. 

One recent study argued: “Given the UK’s recent history of vote switching and the unpredictability of the current climate, it would be unwise for any political party or commentator to presume how voters will behave in a general election, particularly in the middle of an electoral shock. But we do expect to see big shifts defined largely by Brexit.” 

Whereas another study showed that 71 percent of Leave voters believed that violence towards MPs was a “price worth paying” to get Brexit done. 

Equally a majority of Remain voters believe violence was also a price worth paying if it meant the UK would stay in the EU. 

The authors of the report said the findings were extremely worrying, but it’s also indicative that this election, like others before it, will be dominated by Brexit and the fundamental change it will bring to British society. 

A bruising election campaign lies ahead in which Johnson will seek to pit the people against the establishment in his bid to get the UK out of the EU. 

Whatever the immediate political return might mean for his political future, the consequences of Britain’s political division will live on for the foreseeable future.

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