# UK General Election {2024-07-04} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 22, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932 "2024-05-22T23:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/501 "2024-07-05T19:25:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have a dumb question from the perspective of an American watching this play out; why did Rishi Sunak call the general election, knowing that his party was likely to lose control? Yeah, didnt make sense to me, either. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/502 "2024-07-05T19:31:41Z")
I think a sense of fair play: Rishi doesn’t see himself in the same mould as the breaker of rules and protocols Johnson, You’d normally expect an election in the Spring/Summer so that’s what Rishi delivered. There was some good economic news in the last budget, maybe trying to mitigate the damage there. If England, (not Scotland) had been doing much better in the football maybe there would have been more of a sense of optimism which would have mitigated further. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/503 "2024-07-05T19:35:03Z")
I think you’re being far too kind. He’s had enough, clearly. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/504 "2024-07-05T19:45:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have a dumb question from the perspective of an American watching this play out; why did Rishi Sunak call the general election, knowing that his party was likely to lose control? I’ve heard two aspects: 1. The election had to be called before the end of the year/early next, and the Tories were not expecting any better news that would improve their fortunes by then, so it would have been a worse loss at that time. (IIRC the election was “expected” in the fall, and it being in the summer was a “surprise”.) 2. Sunak was facing a lot of internal party pressure, which was likely to result in him being ousted as prime minister if the party had another month to mull it over. Certainly having another round of musical chairs makes the entire party look buffoonish. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/505 "2024-07-05T19:48:19Z")
Possibly, like Jim Callaghan in 1979, he had had enough of being ‘buggered about’, and would rather it came on now rather than limp through the autumn with everyone waiting and not able to get anything much done. We may have to wait for his book to find out. ---
**Author:** ![FurloeRoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@FurloeRoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FurloeRoth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/506 "2024-07-05T19:50:18Z")
Fair play? Come on. He was probably always going to lose, but calculated that going now was the best chance. Factors: fractious Tory MPs seeking to oust him seem to have backed off for the time being; relatively favourable PR on the Small Boats/Rwanda issue which he has for some reason staked his premiership on, but which headlines will likely worsen on in coming months; catching Labour and Reform unprepared (sort of worked with Reform); falling inflation and signs of improving economy (but why not wait, then?) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/507 "2024-07-05T20:09:41Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > 1. Sunak was facing a lot of internal party pressure, which was likely to result in him being ousted as prime minister if the party had another month to mull it over. Certainly having another round of musical chairs makes the entire party look buffoonish. Not disputing your thoughts, but building on them. > [@Sunak's Private Thoughts](#): > > If those dumb bastards are going to oust me, well … I’ll prevent that and oust everyone. Haah! Revenge is a dish best served pre-emptively. Especially to that lot. > > Reform is only growing, so giving them a taste of defeat now is better for conventional conservatism than later after they’re stronger. Maybe, just maybe, we can strangle them in the cradle before they grow to be more powerful than we are. > > Besides, defeated PMs have better book and consulting prospects than do defenestrated PMs. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/508 "2024-07-05T20:18:59Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > And so is [Rees-Mogg](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gezr05xko) (aka Lord Snooty), I see. AKA “the Honourable Member for the 18th century.” Here’s how the Starmer Cabinet is shaping up: > **[Starmer ministry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starmer_ministry)** > > Following the Labour Party's achievement of a majority in the 2024 general election, King Charles III has appointed Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister and asked him to form a government. The new government is being formed 5–7 July, with the new Cabinet first meeting on 6 July and the new Parliament being called to meet on 9 July. > Angela Rayner was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Rachel Reeves was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, with Reeves becoming the first woman to serve as Chancell... ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/509 "2024-07-05T20:34:37Z")
Then why has he made so many mistakes? Same reason? Resignation? ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/510 "2024-07-05T20:38:02Z")
As far as immigration being a top issue in the UK, it is also huge here in the former colony. The one thing I keep coming back to though is that were it not for immigration our population would be falling. Americans are having fewer and fewer children. Also the workforce would be VERY small. The US needs immigration in order to meet employment demands, it is as simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/511 "2024-07-05T20:57:51Z")
Yeah, same thing here - immigrants were prepared to do the jobs nobody else would touch, and were prepared to do it quite cheaply - there are problems with that in itself, because it meant employers were able to keep wages unreasonably low, but after Brexit when a lot of immigrant workers went back to their own countries, there was a labour shortage in agriculture (COVID compounded this issue, of course). IMO, Britain has been at its greatest when it was most connected to the rest of the world; in the more distant past, and unacceptably of course, through imperialism, but after that, the times when we opened up to the world were the times when we grew and were strongest. Immigrants bring fresh perspectives, interesting culture, delicious foods, and above all else, are usually here because _they want to be here_ rather than just being here by accident of birth. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/512 "2024-07-05T23:24:50Z")
Thanks to those who replied to my question about why Sunak chose to call the general election. To be honest, some aspects of the parliamentary system are foreign to some Americans like me. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/513 "2024-07-06T00:25:26Z")
On a side note, the Labour win has brought out the batshit right on X, with a disturbing number insisting that this means the imminent implementation of socialism and sharia law and fascism and so forth, all apparently simultaneously. I took some slightly queasy amusement in reading an argument between two such people, one insisting that the Muslims were taking over the country and the other insisting that the Jews already had. None of which bears any relation to what the actual Labour Party represent, which is a rather banal middle class mediocrity. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/514 "2024-07-06T00:35:57Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I took some slightly queasy amusement in reading an argument between two such people, one insisting that the Muslims were taking over the country and the other insisting that the Jews already had. Now _that’s_ some good shit right there. 😁 Warms my heart it does. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/515 "2024-07-06T01:31:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > why did Rishi Sunak call the general election, knowing that his party was likely to lose control? My favorite theory is that he called it early enough that he still had time to enroll his children in California private school for the fall semester. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/516 "2024-07-06T06:56:51Z")
> [@FurloeRoth](#): > > `Sinn Fein 0.7% 7 10.0` are they even remotely relevant anymore outside of NI? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/517 "2024-07-06T08:55:09Z")
Interesting that in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s farewell speech he quoted “from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success” which sounds like it might be Shakespeare or Wordsworth or someone similarly significant, but it was in fact a song from the movie _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/518 "2024-07-06T10:26:28Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > > [@FurloeRoth](#): > > > > `Sinn Fein 0.7% 7 10.0` > > are they even remotely relevant anymore outside of NI? They are the largest single party in the power-sharing government of NI and a significant party in the Republic, but of course they have no wish to be relevant to the UK Parliament. They don’t take their seats in the Commons, but do do the constituency work and take the salary accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/519 "2024-07-06T11:23:49Z")
A follow-up question: why did Rishi choose July 4th of all days? Lack of choice? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932/520 "2024-07-06T11:26:28Z")
It was probably random, though apparently Election Day is always a Thursday in the UK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-general-election-2024-07-04/1001932.md?page=27)