How the Gaza war affected the British election
Deciphering the striking success of independent candidates
“In general independent candidates do not do very well in Westminster elections,” says Matt Singh, a pollster. That changed in the general election on July 4th, when the Labour Party won a landslide but also lost five of its safest seats to independents. Their victories mean there are now six independents in Parliament, the most elected since 1945. With the exception of a unionist in Northern Ireland, all campaigned heavily on Gaza.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Independents’ day”
Britain July 13th 2024
- What does Labour’s win mean for British foreign policy?
- Britain’s Labour government has declared war on NIMBYs
- Britain’s general election was its least representative ever
- How did pollsters do in predicting the British election?
- Why are British beach huts so expensive?
- How the Gaza war affected the British election
- The new front line of British politics is just lovely
From the July 13th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
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British MPs vote in favour of assisted dying
A monumental social reform is closer to being realised
The slow death of a Labour buzzword
And what that says about Britain’s place in the world
Britain’s Supreme Court considers what a woman is
At last. Britons had been wondering what those 34m people who are not men might be
Can potholes fuel populism?
A new paper looks at one explanation for the rise of Reform UK
Are British voters as clueless as Labour’s intelligentsia thinks?
How the idea of false consciousness conquered the governing party