UK General Election: Boris Johnson backs Rishi Sunak at last minute

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson surprised everyone on Tuesday night by defending current Conservative leader Rishi Sunak. The two were on bad terms and Johnson had stayed away from the campaign.

His appearance Tuesday at a small Conservative election rally in London came as a surprise after six weeks of campaigning. The move is unlikely to change the situation, with the prime minister predicted to lose Thursday’s general election in the United Kingdom in the polls.

After difficult years in which the British have experienced Brexit, economic and social crisis, Covid, scandals and political instability, voters are yearning for change.

A desperate intervention

“If you really want higher taxes, (…) if you want uncontrolled immigration and if you want unnecessary kowtowing to Brussels, vote Labour on Thursday,” Boris Johnson said at his successor’s rally on Tuesday evening.

Absent for six weeks, the former Prime Minister led his camp to a landslide victory five years ago. He was forced to resign in 2022 following a series of scandals but remains very popular with a section of the right-wing electorate.

“Isn’t it great that our Conservative family is united?” says Rishi Sunak. He is the fifth Prime Minister in 14 years of Conservative power, difficult years marked by Brexit, Covid, austerity, scandals and divisions within the “Tories”.

A defeat announced for the conservatives

According to a recent Ipsos poll, Labour could win 453 seats to the Conservatives’ 115, representing a landslide majority of 256 seats for the British left. A historic result, as it would far surpass the majority of 179 seats won by Tony Blair in 1997, the largest ever victory in a British election.

“We are probably on the verge of the biggest landslide (of Labour) that we have ever seen in this country,” admits Labour Secretary Mel Stride, a pillar of Rishi Sunak’s campaign. The latter is devoting his final hours of campaigning to avoiding a Labour “supermajority”.

His rival Keir Starmer wants to convince until the last minute. “We must continue to carry our message of change. (…) There are still many undecided voters throughout the country,” says his campaign coordinator Pat McFadden.

Polling stations will open at 8am on Thursday morning. If you are like those English people who are passionate about French politics, the results will be in during the night from Thursday to Friday.