| As the United Kingdom and France go to the polls in the next few days, we look at why the British public is turning left, towards Labour, at a time when Europe is turning towards far-right parties. The British go to the voting booths on Thursday (4 July), with opinion polls showing Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on track to win a massive majority in the UK Parliament. The standing of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party is so low that there is even talk of Labour winning a historical super majority of 200+ seats, returning to power after 14 years in the political wilderness. Tomorrow, of course, has historical echoes of 1997, when the party led by Tony Blair was voted into power, with the pop song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ – the anthem of the party’s campaign – rising up the charts. Labour regained power after 18 years, on a wave of popular support endorsing change, and Blair. It is this same desire for change that is propelling the party towards power again. Even though Starmer’s ratings are not high, people are so fed up that they want to give the opposition a chance. From the hallowing out of public services following the financial crash, to the fallout of Brexit, COVID lockdown, energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the current anaemic economic growth made worse by the cost of living crisis – after 14 years of what has been described as chaos, Cool Britannia went to Frail Brittania. During this period, the Conservative Party went through five prime ministers, starting with David Cameron, who initiated Brexit, and ending with Rishi Sunak. In the middle was ‘Strong and Stable’ Theresa May, ‘Get Brexit Done’ Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss, whose premiership of 50 days was infamously outlived by a lettuce. Voters understood that many of the challenges the UK faced were beyond the government’s control. But what was unforgivable was the litany of self-induced mistakes and scandals, including parties in 10 Downing Street while the country was forced into lockdown during COVID. | 
