As 2024 begins, so too does an election year, with the main protagonists staking their claim for a Premiership, and others worrying about Easter eggs… read all about it in the latest edition of Who's Top Who's Not.
Flying High: Kier Starmer
The Labour Leader will be hoping his new year’s wish to become the next Prime Minister comes true in 2024, as he made his opening speech of the year at Bristol and Bath Science Park.
Starmer outlined his new year’s resolutions to bring a ‘credible hope’ back to Number 10 and proclaimed his desire to crush the Conservatives’ divisive brand of politics at the approaching general election. In recognition ofgrowing anti-politics and anti-Westminster sentiment, Starmer shared the public’s frustration at the current state of politics, pointing the finger at the Tory Party, and vowing to crackdown on cronyism.
As Sunak seemingly ruled out an election in the first half of this year, his counterpart has come out swinging in 2024, urging Rishi Sunak to ‘bring it on’ and encouraging the Prime Minister to stop delaying and go to the country sooner rather than later. A May general election was never really on the cards as the polls remain dreadful for the Tories and Sunak won’t want to voluntarily cut his premiership off six months early. The only dampener for Starmer is that his big speech got somewhat drowned out by Sunak’s election announcement, denying him the chance to dominate the news cycle.
Middle Ranking: Liz Truss
New year, new peers! Liz Truss demonstrated the power which every resigning Prime Minister wields (even those who only held power for 49 days), when she unveiled her resignation honours list, hidden behind the new year’s celebrations.
Truss put forward eleven people for honours including her former advisors, orchestrators of the Vote Leave campaign, and a handful of Tory MPs who might be out of a job when the election comes around. Her list included three nominations for the House of Lords, and eight others for ranging honours, from knighthoods to MBEs.
Truss’s new year’s appointments sparked backlash at the fact that the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister, forced out mid-crisis, could influence politics in this way. Some critics even used the opportunity to call for House of Lords reform, citing this list as an example of how appointing Lords rather than electing them is irrational and unrepresentative. Ultimately, Liz Truss’s most longlasting mark on British politics could well be the three peers that will be able to legislate for life.
Sinking Quickly: Jake Berry
The former Chairman for the Conservative Party’s new year got off to a terrible start as he was angered by the presence of Easter eggs on the shelves of his local Tesco in early January.
Berry took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his irritation and ask for feedback from them as to whether Easter is coming too early this year.
Unfortunately for him, Berry’s bemusement at the Easter eggs was met with even more confusion from the British public as to what the MP is prioritising as we enter the new year. However, Sir Jake doubled down on his frustrations when responding to criticism, to complain about hot cross buns this time, focusing squarely on the issues that matter to the average voter down the dog and duck.
Perhaps the public’s frustration is best demonstrated by recent polling showing a 90% chance that Berry’s seat (Rossendale and Darwen) will be a Labour one by 2025, with one X user suggesting all that we are watching now is a pre-emptive audition for a long-term slot on a right-wing television news outlet.