Starmer issues call to arms to Labour ahead of UK general election

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will put the opposition party on high alert for a general election as he tells British voters that “the opportunity to shape our country’s future rests in your hands” in a speech on Thursday.

Speaking in the west of England, he will tell the public “things can be better” and argue that the prospect of an election later this year will bring hope to people across the country.

“The thought of millions of people, right across our country, putting a cross on that ballot paper, it’s what we’ve been waiting for, preparing for, fighting for. A year of choice and the chance to change Britain,” he will tell party activists.

Although Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will call an election this year most analysts do not expect him to go to the country until the autumn, given his Conservative party is languishing 18 points on average behind Labour in the opinion polls.

But Starmer has ordered aides and shadow ministers to be alert for the possibility of an earlier election in May to coincide with local elections.

Starmer will claim the ruling Conservative party has “nothing to show” for its 14 years in power and that a Labour victory would lift everyone as he urges voters to ignore the “siren voices” claiming all politicians are the same.

“If you’ve been breaking your back to keep trading, steering your business through the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the challenge of Brexit and the chaos of Westminster . . . if you’ve been serving our country, whether in scrubs or the uniform of your regiment and what you want now is a politics that serves you, then make no mistake — this is your year,” he will say. “The opportunity to shape our country’s future rests in your hands.”

Voters often tell opinion pollsters or focus groups that they do not know much about Starmer’s…