Rishi Sunak, the outgoing British prime minister, conceded defeat to the Conservative Party on Friday morning, while retaining his seat in Parliament.
Mr Sunak won 47.5 per cent of the vote in the Richmond and Northallerton constituency in northern England, which is likely to come as a relief to Mr Sunak, who is said to be worried about maintaining his one time safety seat in the days before voting day.
But it was also a sad moment, as Mr Sunak admitted in his acceptance speech that his party had lost. “Labour has won this general election,” Mr Sunak declared, adding that he had called Keir Starmer, the Labour leader and new prime minister, to congratulate him.
Few in Richmond expect him to be voted out of parliament. Mr Sunak’s Conservatives have long held power in rural Yorkshire. If he loses, he will be the first sitting prime minister to lose his seat in parliament.
“If they put a billy goat in Richmond, the Conservatives, it would win,” said Lawrence Hathaway, 94. “It’s always the Conservatives.”
But this year, Mr Sunak — a multimillionaire who opponents have described as out of touch with the needs of ordinary people — is facing historic headwinds after 14 years at the helm of the Conservative Party, which has presided over a tumultuous exit from the European Union and has seen Britain grapple with cost of living crisis for years, with inflation reaching 11.1 percent in 2022 and only recently returning to target.
Polls show voters are also frustrated by government mismanagement. coronavirus pandemicworry about them health care system and anger at the leadership of Mr Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Trusswho was in office for only 45 days.
In Richmond, some feel Mr Sunak is being blamed for problems that began before his tenure and are far deeper than any prime minister could solve.
“Most people here like Rishi Sunak,” said Barbara Richmond, 70, who has a holiday home nearby, although she did not vote in Richmond.
“For most Yorkshire people, family comes first,” she said. “And he was a family man.”
But many are fed up with the scandals that have plagued the Conservative Party. There was “Partygate”, in which Boris Johnson and his Downing Street team broke the government’s lockdown rules during the pandemic, contributing to the The fall of Mr JohnsonThere is economic chaos caused by Ms Truss’s ill-conceived tax cut plans. And in recent weeks, Conservative Party staff have been accused of have bet about the timing of the extraordinary election.
“I’m so frustrated,” said Carol Sheard, a pensioner in her 70s who voted in Mr Sunak’s constituency. “It’s like a circus.”
Even some of Mr Sunak’s supporters are lukewarm about him. The prime minister has made a number of mistakes on the campaign trail, including left the D-Day celebrations early. Immense wealthand he often seemed unable to connect with ordinary voters.
“He’s so old-fashioned,” said John Morrison, 86. But he said he still voted Conservative.
“Like many others, I held my nose and voted for Rishi,” he said. “He is the best of the worst.”
