Here Comes the Sun: Can the UK General Election Really Inspire Hope?

Brown, Katy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5405-2322 (2024) Here Comes the Sun: Can the UK General Election Really Inspire Hope? Illiberalism Studies Program.

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Abstract

The 2024 UK general election brought seemingly few surprises. The polls painted it as a foregone conclusion from the get-go, and veritably, the years of austerity, corruption and cruelty finally saw the government’s popularity divebomb. Conservative leader Rishi Sunak’s rain-drenched announcement of the vote set the tone for a bleak and uninspiring campaign on many fronts. In contrast, when Labour’s landslide was all but confirmed, now-Prime Minister Keir Starmer celebrated his constituency win by claiming that a “sunlight of hope” was shining on Britain.