The year of elections is set to witness yet another country going to the polls on July 4, 2024. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced an early election in Britain, on Wednesday.

This comes as a surprise as it was believed that autumn was the anticipated time of elections as Sunak’s party is way behind Keir Starmer’s Labour party and could eventually lead to throwing the former’s Conservative Party out of authority. 

Apart from that, the Liberal Democrats, led by Ed Davey is a challenge for the Tories in the south of the United Kingdom. The Scottish National Party and the Green Party are also expected to give the Conservative Party a hard time at some of the seats in the UK general elections of 2024.

These are the main candidates for the UK general elections in 2024.

Rishi Sunak

The 44-year-old British Prime Minister seeks approval for his performance as the post-holder by the British public. Sunak, who has been a Member of Parliament for Richmond since 2015, was made the PM in 2022 by his Tory MPs. He has previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. 

The first British-Asian prime minister, Sunak has been credited with stabilising the UK government following the chaotic events of two consecutive premiership downfalls. However, he receives some of the lowest approval ratings of any prime minister at opinion polls, regularly.

Moreover, Sunak fell short on a number of his promises, such as reducing the length of health waiting lists, halting unauthorized immigration, and sending migrants to Rwanda.

Keir Starmer

61-year-old British politician Keir Starmer, who represented Holborn and St. Pancras in the UK Parliament since 2015, became the leader of the Labour Party in 2020. 

While some think Starmer can help Britain escape from the economic decline, critics argue that he is a “flip-flopper”. As per the critics, Starmer is unable to articulate a clear vision for the country.

Starmer has shifted the Labour Party toward the political centre. Headline polls suggest a potential landslide victory for Labour in July, but underlying data shows that Starmer and his party have had a decline in their credibility since 2015. 

Swinney, Davey and Denyer

Ed Davey, 58, is hoping to prevent a Conservative triumph by gaining several seats in southern England. His party wants to pass the Scottish National Party and take back the third-largest seat in parliament. 

John Ramsay Swinney, 60, is the first minister of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh rather than a member of the UK parliament. He assumed the SNP leadership in May after Humza Yousaf resigned. His SNP may lose its chances of independence for a generation if it is unable to stop Scotland’s surging Labour Party. 

Carla Denyer, 38, is the co-leader of the Green Party, which aims to increase its representation from one to four MPs. She is running for the newly created seat of Bristol Central.

However, these parties do not seem to be winning the elections, they may be able to influence who does.