Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
27-06-2024
LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives suffered a further fall in support after five party officials, including two candidates, were being investigated over bets on the timing on an early election, according to a new poll.
The scandal is undermining the Conservatives’ efforts to close the gap on the opposition Labour Party’s large poll lead eight days before the national election.
The expanding number of Conservative officials under investigation has resulted in support for the party falling to 18%, down 2 percentage points, the poll Survation published on Wednesday showed. The Labour Party was on 41%.
Since the betting allegations first emerged, the conduct of government has become the second most important issue for voters behind the cost of living crisis, the poll found.
The betting scandal intensified further late on Tuesday after a cabinet minister said he had placed three bets on the date for of the election, but that he was not being investigated by the gambling regulator. A Labour candidate also admitted placing a bet against himself.
Both the Conservatives and Labour on Tuesday withdrew support for candidates under investigation. Sunak had faced days of criticism for initially failing to withdraw suspend the candidates being investigated by the regulator.
While Sunak said he was “extremely angry” about the scandal, he previously stopped short of withdrawing support so the investigations could finish before any action was taken.
Mel Stride, the work and pensions minister, said on Wednesday that more candidates could be involved in the scandal and there should be a debate about political betting.
For the poll, Survation interviewed 1,022 adults in Britain by phone between June 21 and 25.
Meanwhile, Britain’s pound has bounced, opens new tab ahead of an expected landslide election win for the opposition Labour Party but the currency’s future depends on the next government convincing skittish investors that its plans to fix a stagnant economy are credible.
On a trade-weighted basis sterling has returned to levels not seen since 2016’s Brexit vote as currency traders bet on a long era of currency volatility driven by tumultuous politics under the ruling Conservative party coming to an end.
If Labour wins on July 4, the left-of-centre government will need to keep investors’ trust while tackling economic challenges the Conservatives have not solved, more than 20 economists and former government officials said.
UK public debt-to GDP is at a 63-year high and foreign direct investment has fallen for four out of the last five quarters up to the end of 2023. To avoid spending cuts, Labour will need to hike taxes or increase borrowing, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said, opens new tab.
As investors assess the next government’s response to these problems, the balance of risks for sterling is not even because the currency has already priced in a strong Labour majority boosting Britain’s growth.
“A less confident political scenario will weaken sterling much more and make it much more volatile,” said Liverpool university finance professor Costas Milas, who studies the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and financial markets.
Led by Keir Starmer, Labour is about 20 percentage points ahead of the ruling Conservatives in surveys. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
