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UK PM announces general election for July 4, 2024; Labour favoured to win
![Rishi Sunak became UK Prime Minister in October of 2022, after Mary E. Truss aka ‘Liz’ was forced to resigned after only 45 days in office. It was Truss who initiated the controversial Order in Council to give the United Kingdom (UK) appointed Governor the power to suspend the [British] Virgin Islands (VI) at a whim. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/File](https://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/cache/images/800x_8_800x_l_Liz_Truss.png)
The announcement came in a statement outside Downing Street today, Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
After discussing the COVID-19 pandemic, the furlough scheme, and the war in Ukraine, he said the question is "Who do you trust?" He also said he’s proud of what his government has achieved, including on NHS spending and education.
The Labour leader Keir R. Starmer said the election is the "moment the country's been waiting for" and that the country was ready for change. He also said with "patience and determination" there is "so much pride and potential to unlock" in the UK.
Labour Party favoured to win elections
Many had expected PM Sunak to set an election date for autumn or even in early 2025; however, his early date has drawn speculations that he is not optimistic things will get better.
It is believed that the Conservatives, who are expected to lose the elections, are better for the [British] Virgin Islands, especially since it is less harassing to the Virgin Islands’ offshore financial services sector.
A silver lining?
However, the good news for the VI is that veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret E. Hodge will not be contesting the elections.
Hodge has been an antagonist of the Virgin Islands financial services sector and in 2018 had spearheaded the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill brought before the House of Commons. The Bill, if enacted would have forced territories such as the VI, to implement 'Public Registers of Beneficial Ownership' by December 2020—a requirement that experts believe would have crippled the VI’s Financial Services Sector.
On May 24, 2018, thousands of persons in the Virgin Islands publicly demonstrated against the Bill. In March 2019; however, then-British PM, Theresa M. May announced the withdrawal of the Bill, saying Crown Dependencies are their own jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments. As such, "they are responsible for their own fiscal matters.
Meanwhile, Sunak became UK Prime Minister in October of 2022, after Mary E. Truss aka ‘Liz’ was forced to resign after only 45 days in office. It was Truss who initiated the controversial Order in Council to give the United Kingdom (UK) appointed Governor the power to suspend the [British] Virgin Islands (VI) constitution at a whim.
Meanwhile, the UK Parliament will be prorogued on May 24, 2024, and will then be formally dissolved on May 30, 2024, Downing Street confirmed.
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8 Responses to “UK PM announces general election for July 4, 2024; Labour favoured to win”
Is this a true statement? Thousands of people? Seems like I was asleep maybe when thousands of people in the BVI did anything