National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam explained Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call a British general election for July 4 on Stephen K. Bannon’s War Room, citing Britain’s infamously dire weather alongside the governing Conservative Party’s equally dire record in office.
While the Conservatives could have postponed the election until as late as January 2025, Kassam noted “a lot more rot” could set in by then, setting the stage for an even more devastating loss. He cited sky-high immigration — the record-breaking net influx for 2022 was revised upwards by almost 20,000 to 764,000 just this morning — as well as inflation, coronavirus-era lockdowns, “lots of LGBTQ stuff,” and “lots of hate speech stuff,” which has alienated the party’s core voters.
“I think they realize politically things can only get worse for them, not necessarily better,” Kassam said, adding that a later election would also detract from their ground game, which increasingly depends on elderly activists who suffer in poor weather.
NO TV, NO RADIO.
“Remember, British elections do not have television advertising; there’s no radio advertising. They really rely on the foot soldiers, knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, speaking to voters face to face, and when you are a predominantly older… political party, you really don’t want to send people out there in the cold, and the wet, and the wind,” Kassam explained.
“It sounds parochial. It is parochial. [But] that is a major decision when it comes to when and how you hold an election in the United Kingdom.”
Even in May, the rain was drenching Sunak as he was announcing the snap election, with Kassam observing he “looked washed out and washed up” — and would likely look similar on July 5.
WATCH:
How the British weather (and a terrible record in office) shaped Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an election on Independence Day, explained to Americans by @RaheemKassam on Steve Bannon's War Room. pic.twitter.com/YGXiGfGk1B
— Jack Montgomery (@JackBMontgomery) May 23, 2024
THINGS CAN ONLY GET WORSE.
Bannon questioned Kassam on the state of populism in the United Kingdom, which appeared to be in the ascendant following the Brexit referendum. Kassam said Sunak had likely called an early election in part to stop Reform, formerly the Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage, from organizing and “tear[ing] chunks out of the Conservative vote.”
Farage has already said he will not stand in the election, preferring to focus on helping Donald Trump reclaim the White House. Kassam, speaking to Bannon before Farage made the announcement, had advised him to take this course of action, believing he has a better chance of becoming Prime Minister once Labour returns to government and quickly disillusions the public.
“I was sitting on the balcony of County Hall in London behind [former Conservative leader and Prime Minister] David Cameron… when he announced the Conservative manifesto for the year 2010,” Kassam recalled.
“You can see me in the background … [T]he time for change after 13 years of Labour governance had truly come, and we really genuinely believed that something different was around the corner… Something different wasn’t around the corner,” he said.
The “neoliberal oligarchy” soon reasserted itself post-Labour, with the Conservatives “govern[ing] to the left” in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
He lamented how this neoliberal oligarchy has presided over “abject poverty,” particularly “outside of London,” with neighborhoods “completely dilapidated” while the likes of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, “a representative of the one percent of the one percent,” claims the economy is “going gangbusters.”
Kassam had harsh words for Conservative premiers since 2010, including Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, and David Cameron, saying he “wouldn’t spit on them if they were on fire, quite frankly.” However, he predicts a restored Labour government — Sir Keir Starmer’s leftist party is projected to win on July 4 by a landslide — will be even worse, as while the Conservatives constantly offer sops to the left, Labour will be “throwing sops to the far left ”
Kassam said Americans should familiarize themselves with Labour shadow government members who are currently obscure but may soon be in office opposing a restored Donald Trump administration, such as Labour deputy leader Angela Raynors and shadow foreign minister David Lammy.
WATCH:
British decline, Tory betrayal, and the future of populism in the United Kingdom explained to Americans by @RaheemKassam on Steve Bannon's War Room. pic.twitter.com/rYnnmniuO9
— Jack Montgomery (@JackBMontgomery) May 23, 2024
