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UK general elections: What the electoral system means for its politics

UK general elections: What the electoral system means for its politics
By Edna Mohamed
Published On 26 Jun 2024

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26 Jun 2024 - 21:11
 (21:11 GMT)

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You can stay up to date on all our UK election coverage here.

 

26 Jun 2024 - 21:05
 (21:05 GMT)

Poll finds Sunak, Starmer performance equal during BBC debate

In a snap poll, YouGov found respondents were split equally over whether Sunak and Starmer won the BBC debate.

26 Jun 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Here’s what happened

The debate has ended, and we will close the live page soon. Here’s a recap of the debate:

  • Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he was “frustrated, furious” when he heard about the betting allegations.
  • Labour leader Keir Starmer says the gambling allegations were a question of “leadership”.
  • PA media reported that pro-Palestinian protesters were chanting outside the debate.
  • Sunak says he will “lower taxes and lower welfare” and claims that the country will have to deal with “higher taxes” under a Labour government.
  • Sunak claims support for the most vulnerable will always happen under a Conservative government.
  • Starmer rebuffs Sunak’s stance on welfare, calling the prime minister “out of touch”.
  • On immigration, Starmer says the biggest “threat to our borders” is the amount of people arriving via small boats over the English Channel and that they have to “smash the gangs” facilitating travel.
  • Sunak says the arrival of undocumented immigrants is an “affront” to fairness, and that’s why he’s made it a priority to stop the boats through a “deterrent” like the Rwanda plan.
26 Jun 2024 - 20:55
 (20:55 GMT)

Starmer’s closing statement

That was a lie. He’s been told not to repeat that lie. (Starmer is referring to Sunak’s claim that Labour would raise taxes by 2,000 pounds per working household).

My message to you is simple. If you want your NHS back, you have to vote for it. If you want a growing economy, you have to vote for it. If you want more police on our streets, more teachers in our schools, you have to vote for it.

If you want to end 14 years of chaos and rebuild our country, then that power is in your hands. On July the 4th, vote change, vote Labour.

26 Jun 2024 - 20:50
 (20:50 GMT)

Sunak’s closing statement

I understand why you’re frustrated with our party, with me. I get it.

But this is not a by-election. It’s a choice with profound consequences for you and our country. And before you make that choice, think what a Labour government would mean.

Can you afford to pay at least 2,000 pounds ($2,524) more in tax? And why won’t Keir Starmer be straight with you about what he wants to do?

And if you are not certain about Labour, don’t surrender to them. Don’t vote for any other party.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak [Phil Noble/Pool/Reuters]
26 Jun 2024 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

Leaders answer question on protection of single-sex spaces

On the question of the protection of single-sex spaces, Sunak says, “Yes, unequivocally.”

  • Sunak says they will change the Equality Act to clarify that sex means biological sex, which will allow them to protect female-only spaces
  • Says Starmer has not matched the pledge to reform the act because he is not sure that sex is biological sex

Starmer says he will also protect women’s spaces.

  • He explains that there are a “small number of people” that do not identify with the gender they were born and that he will treat them with “dignity and respect”
  • He says if you don’t, you end up with a prime minister who makes anti-trans jokes in front of Brianna Ghey, a trans teenager’s mother who was killed
  • Starmer says the Equality Act specifies women’s spaces and says they should be protected
26 Jun 2024 - 20:35
 (20:35 GMT)

Leaders emphasis how they will protect women’s interests

Answering a question about how the leaders will protect women’s interests, Starmer says that he has “strong women” partners within his cabinet, referring to Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Bridget Phillipson.

He adds that it’s important to work as part of a team.

Sunak referred to the fact that he is a father to two girls and that he wants them to grow up in a country that is “safe”.

He adds that the party is rolling out “30 hours of free childcare”.

26 Jun 2024 - 20:28
 (20:28 GMT)

Leaders ‘concerned’ by state of local councils

Karen Duran, an audience member, asks what the leaders will do to avoid councils from going bankrupt after Nottingham City Council effectively declared itself bankrupt last year.

Starmer says he is “concerned” about the situation of local councils and its effects on libraries and other services.

  • Starmer says the Labour Party will change the way payments go to councils if they win.
  • He says yearly payments aren’t effective
  • He adds that there is no “magic wand” to find money for councils but that his party are concerned with growth

Sunak says Nottingham City Council is a “glimpse fo the future” which will happen if the Labour Party is in charge.

Nottingham Council has been run by the Labour Party since 1991.

26 Jun 2024 - 20:26
 (20:26 GMT)

Starmer: ‘I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve changed it.’

Responding to the question, “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of this great country?” Starmer pointed to his early career work in Northern Ireland with police as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

“So I went, I said what we would do and we delivered. I then ran the Crown Prosecution Service for five years with 7,000 staff. I said we would improve the way we dealt with violence against women and girls,” he said, adding he also followed through on promises during his time leading the Labour Party.

“I came into the Labour Party to lead it four and a half years ago and I said we will change our party to make sure that we are a party that can put a credible proposition before the country for changing the country and that we will always say, country first, party second,” he said.

“I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve changed it. What I’m now asking for is the opportunity to change our country for the better because we’ve had 14 pretty awful years.”

26 Jun 2024 - 20:18
 (20:18 GMT)

Leaders clash over question on finance pledges

Following a question about how the leaders will pay for their pledges, Sunak said he has laid out a clear plan and its right to make savings from the welfare bill.

  • Those savings will be used for people at “every stage of their lives”
  • He adds that the party will make tax cuts for pensioners, stamp duty, and National Insurance for the self-employed
  • He stresses that people can decide between “tax cuts with the Conservatives or thousands of pounds of tax rises under the Labour Party”

Starmer says Sunak is “false” and adds that the Labour Party’s plans are all funded.

  • He says the country knows what happens when a plan is unfunded – referring to former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s crisis
  • He adds that people are still “paying the price” for her economic plan, which Sunak has not learned yet
  • Pledges that the Labour Party will not do that
26 Jun 2024 - 20:13
 (20:13 GMT)

Sunak asks to be allowed ‘to finish the job I’ve started’

An audience member asked: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of this great country?”

Sunak responded that he understood the audience member’s frustration and that the last few years have not been easy.

“I’m not saying we’ve got everything right. I certainly would be the first to acknowledge that,” he said. “But I’ve been your prime minister for 18 months. And in that time, we’ve got inflation down from 11 percent with all the damage it was doing to the cost of living back to target.”

“I get the frustrations, but think about the choice. Allow me to finish the job I’ve started, cut your taxes, protect your pension, secure our borders.”

Starmer and Sunak take part in BBC’s Prime Ministerial Debate in Nottingham [Phil Noble/Pool/Reuters]
26 Jun 2024 - 20:04
 (20:04 GMT)

Leaders answer question on immigration

Audience member Steve Curtis asks the leaders, “We’re an island, why can’t we easily close our borders?”

Starmer says the biggest “threat to our borders” is the amount of people arriving via small boats over the English Channel.

  • Starmer says there are “record numbers” of arrivals since Sunak became prime minister
  • Says they have to “smash the gangs” who are facilitating travel across the Channel

Sunak says the arrival of undocumented immigrants is an “affront” to fairness, and that’s why he’s made it a priority to stop the boats.

  • Sunak says they’ve made progress and the numbers have come down over the past 12 months
  • He says to stop this from happening, they need a “deterrent” in the form of the Rwanda plan
  • Sunak says the flights will take off if he wins the election – he says if Starmer wins, those who came illegally will be on “our streets”.
  • “Do not surrender our borders to the Labour Party”
26 Jun 2024 - 19:54
 (19:54 GMT)

Starmer: The prime minister is ‘out of touch’

Starmer rebuffs Sunak’s stance on welfare, calling the prime minister “out of touch”.

  • Starmer says the party have a plan to get people back into work with changes in job centres and increased support
  • He says tackling NHS waiting lists is crucial to get more people back into work
  • He places blame on the government for the waiting lists that are leading to fewer people in the workforce
  • Says the welfare bill needs to come down, and one of the first things they will do is to put in place “40,000 extra NHS appointments each and every week”
26 Jun 2024 - 19:54
 (19:54 GMT)

Sunak: The party believes in a ‘compassionate welfare system’

Answering a question on disability benefits, Sunak says he believes in a “compassionate welfare system”.

  • Support for the most vulnerable will always happen under a Conservative government
  • Reform the sick note process, which “isn’t working”
  • ‘”Active” support for people to work
  • “If your job coach says to you ‘Look, there’s work for you to do,’ ‘Theres a job for you, you’re fit enough, well enough to do,’ and you refuse to take it, I don’t think that’s fair on everyone else after 12 months of support.”
  •  “Fundamentally, I think that those who can work, should work.”
26 Jun 2024 - 19:49
 (19:49 GMT)

Sunak says lower taxes and lower welfare will help employment

Also responding to a question about getting people employed and off of benefits, Sanuk says he will “lower taxes and lower welfare”.

“That’s what I’ll deliver. If you want higher taxes and higher welfare, that’s what Keir Starmer will do,” he said.

“The number of people currently out of work on ill health and disability benefits is too high. It’s gone up by 800,000 since the pandemic.”

“If you want lower welfare and lower taxes, I would deliver that for you.”

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak take part in BBC’s Prime Ministerial Debate, in Nottingham, UK, June 26, 2024 [Phil Noble/Pool/Reuters]
26 Jun 2024 - 19:39
 (19:39 GMT)

Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate outside debate: Report

PA media is reporting that pro-Palestinian protesters are chanting outside the debate.

Shouting can be heard while the two leaders are answering questions.

Follow live updates on Israel’s war on Gaza here.

26 Jun 2024 - 19:35
 (19:35 GMT)

‘If you can work, you should work”: Starmer

Responding to a question about getting people off benefits and back to work, Starmer says his “rule” is: “If you can work you should work and we should we’ve got a plan to get people into work.”

He added that part of the solution would be to get “waiting lists down in the NHS”.

“Because very many people aren’t able to work, or to work in the way they want, because they’re waiting for an operation because of the catastrophic level of waiting lists under this government.”

26 Jun 2024 - 19:31
 (19:31 GMT)

Starmer stresses that party are aware of his expectations

Starmer says that when he found out a candidate bet on himself, he kicked them out of the party.

He stresses that his party know that he demands high standards.

Starmer does not answer whether more candidates have bet on themselves.

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer [Phil Noble/Pool/Reuters]
26 Jun 2024 - 19:27
 (19:27 GMT)

Starmer: Politics ‘too much about self-entitlement’

Starmer says integrity in politics is on “a lot of people’s minds”. While answering a question on the betting scandal, Starmer says for the past 14 years, politics has become “too much about self-entitlement”.

The gambling allegations are a question of “leadership”.

26 Jun 2024 - 19:24
 (19:24 GMT)

Sunak: ‘Frustrated, furious’ over betting scandal

Answering a question on the lack of integrity in politics and restoring trust after the betting scandal, Sunak says he was “frustrated, furious” when he heard about the allegations.

He says it’s why the Conservatives have begun their own investigation alongside the Gambling Commission.

“I’ve been crystal clear: anyone who has broken the law, broken the rules should not only face the full consequences of the law, I will ensure that they are booted out of the Conservative party”.