The United Kingdom is set to go to the polls on Thursday, with projections indicating that the governing right-wing Conservatives could be ousted, paving the way for the opposition Labour party to assume power.
The political landscape has been further complicated by recent findings from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which uncovered five Facebook pages promoting pro-Kremlin talking points. Some of these pages have been advocating for the hard-right Reform UK party, led by Brexiteer Nigel Farage, a significant contender against the Conservatives in the upcoming election.
“There is a threat in all elections, and indeed we see it in this election from hostile state actors seeking to influence the outcome of the election campaign,” Oliver Dowden told Sky News. “Russia is a prime example of this, and this is a classic example from the Russian playbook,” he added, though he noted that these instances were “relatively typical, low-level stuff.”
Nigel Farage, an admirer of former US President Donald Trump, dismissed the claims of Russian bot interference as “cobblers,” a British slang term for nonsense. Farage has faced criticism during the campaign for suggesting that the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His anti-immigration party is expected by pollsters to contribute to a landslide win for the centre-left Labour party by drawing votes away from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
Despite Labour’s consistent poll leads of more than 20 points throughout the campaign, Sunak insisted on Sunday that he would remain Prime Minister come Friday morning. “I’m fighting very hard, and I think people are waking up to the real danger of what a Labour government means,” he said.
Labour, led by Keir Starmer, received a significant boost on Sunday when the influential right-of-centre newspaper, the Sunday Times, endorsed the party. Additionally, music icon Elton John announced his support for Labour, further strengthening their campaign.
