In a mass exodus, 78 Members of Parliament have resigned amid UK PM Rishi Sunak’s announcement of the UK General Elections 2024 on July 4, 2024. The MPs who have resigned include Cabinet Ministers.
UK General Elections 2024 On July 4: The Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak has recently been in the news for the announcement he made regarding the General Elections. The 44-year-old Indian-origin leader, who is the son-in-law of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy, announced a surprise early UK General Elections on July 4, 2024. In a big blow to Rishi Sunak, 78 MPs have resigned ahead of the polls. After declaring a general election for July 4, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly spending his first Saturday with his closest advisers as he takes an “unusual step” of a day away from public events over the first weekend of the campaign. The 44-year-old Indian-origin leader is taking some private time out with his aides and family amid a mass exodus of senior members of Parliament from his embattled Conservative Party.
Cabinet Ministers Resign Ahead Of UK General Elections
Cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom became the latest Tory frontliners to announce their decision to not stand for re-election in this summer’s polls, taking the number of party members quitting the race to as many as 78. Gove’s announcement in a letter released on social media on Friday evening had been anticipated amid strong challenges to incumbent Tories in constituencies around the country.
Leadsom released her own letter shortly after, writing to Sunak: “After careful reflection, I have decided not to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming election.” In his letter, Housing Minister Gove wrote that he knew “the toll office can take, as do those closest to me…No one in politics is a conscript. We are volunteers who willingly choose our fate. And the chance to serve is wonderful. But there comes a moment when you know that it is time to leave. That a new generation should lead.” Former prime minister Theresa May is also among the senior MPs stepping away, with former defence minister Ben Wallace already having announced his decision to leave frontline politics.
According to sources quoted by the Guardian newspaper, Sunak is taking the “unusual step” of a day away from public events over the first weekend of the election campaign and instead will spend it in discussion on election strategy with his closest advisers. While one source was quoted as saying that the idea that Sunak was hoping to reset his campaign was “ridiculous”, another campaign operative claimed that “prime ministers don’t normally spend the first weekend of the campaign at home talking to their advisers”.
The reports prompted Opposition Labour MP Stella Creasy to post on social media: “Sunak is already in need of a duvet day. Britain is already in need of a different government.” However, the claims were soon rubbished, saying he was spending the day campaigning in his north England constituency of Yorkshire. Conservative minister Bim Afolami intervened to brand criticisms of the Sunak campaign made by the Opposition. “I think a lot of those things are fluff…I think that the important thing is that we frame this election correctly,” he said.
The UK Prime Minister while announcing the General Election had said, “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.” The announcement is being seen as a high-risk move for the Conservatives with the expectation of Labour Party winning the upcoming polls.
(Inputs from PTI)