Britain will hold parliamentary elections on July 4, and the latest polls show that the opposition Labor Party will win a record number of seats. On the other hand, Conservative Party leader Sunak could become the first ever sitting prime minister to lose a parliamentary seat.
Sunak Faces Scandals and Potential Historic Loss
Reuters reported that the British polling organization “public opinion” (YouGov) poll released on the 19th shows that the Labour Party is expected to take 425 seats in the general election, the Conservative Party will only take 108 seats.
Regardless of the outcome, this will be the best MP return ever for an incumbent opposition party at a general election. Meanwhile, two polls show support for the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, at an all-time low, with one estimating that they will win only 53 seats.The British “Telegraph” website published another poll shows that Sunak will lose his parliamentary seat, becoming the first ever incumbent prime minister to lose seats in the general election.
The BBC reports that a recent scandal involving Sunak’s close associates led to the arrest of one of his close protection officers on the 17th of this month for placing a bet on the date of a parliamentary election. The Gambling Commission, the UK’s public body that regulates the gaming and betting industry, notified London police earlier this month that it was investigating the officer’s involvement in the gambling incident, and the officer was subsequently detained and released on bail pending further questioning.
Sunak’s campaign is widely seen as lackluster and riddled with mistakes, including the criticism he received from nearly everyone earlier this month for leaving the commemoration of the Normandy landings in France early. By contrast, Labor Party leader Starmer is proceeding cautiously to protect his party’s poll lead. Once Labor wins on July 4, Starmer will become the next prime minister.
YouGov also found that the UK Reform Party, led by anti-EU populist Farage, is on track to win five seats, including the Clacton constituency in the east of England where he is running. Farage has said that once he is elected and the Conservatives do poorly on July 4, he will try to pull in the remaining Tory MPs.
Sunak admitted that the Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 consecutive years, has been plunged into political turmoil and scandals from time to time, and that the British public is disappointed with him and the Conservative Party
According to British law, the date of the general election is decided by the prime minister, but need to be announced at least 25 working days in advance. Britain when to hold a new round of general elections has always been the focus of outside speculation, Sunak May 22 announced on July 4 to hold parliamentary elections, the decision to the outside world, and even the Conservative Party, most people were surprised. Earlier this month, the Gaming Commission launched an investigation into Craig Williams, Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary. He placed a 100-pound ($127.2) bet on May 19 that the election would be held in July, for which he faces criminal liability under British law.
An AI candidate appears
Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao reported that the current election, the development of technology and dissatisfaction with the political world has also given rise to “AI candidates”.
British entrepreneur Steve Endacott, who is running as an independent candidate for a councilor’s seat in the southern seaside town of Brighton, has launched a “digital doppelganger” to campaign on his behalf. The system called “AI Steve” is based on Endacott’s Artificial Intelligence personalized voice assistant company Neural Voice to build, voters can communicate with the AI on political issues, by the AI based on voters’ opinions to put forward policy ideas.
Endacott, 59, said he decided to run because he was dissatisfied with “standardized politics.” AI Steve, created by Endacott’s AI personalized voice assistant company Neural Voice, allows voters to communicate with AI Steve on a variety of issues, including LGBTQ rights, housing, garbage collection, immigration, and more, through real-time chat software. , garbage collection, and immigration, among other topics. AI Steve then presents policy ideas and solicits voter input. Endacott said, “We’re organizing a political party, and after this election we’re going to roll out more AI candidates around the country. We see this as a start on which something large and democratic can be built further.”
It is reported that the name of “AI Steve” will appear on the ballot paper, but the Electoral Commission has emphasized that if it wins, it must be Ndakotte himself. Media interviews on the street showed that the British people do not buy the “AI candidate”. A passer-by told the media: “AIs and politicians have one thing in common, and that’s that they can’t be trusted.”
