To be honest, I'm really surprised by how messy British politics is right now.
Keir Starmer just won a huge election in 2024, but after losing so badly in the local elections this May, he’s already losing his grip. It’s crazy how fast things changed. And you know, ever since Brexit, it feels like the UK changes its Prime Minister all the time.
Surprisingly, The UK has had six different Prime Ministers in the last ten years.
I actually talked about British politics with my former teacher before, and before Starmer became PM, the Conservatives had been in power for 14 straight years! But because the economy got worse and people’s frustration kept building up, a prime minister from the Labour Party was finally elected in 2024 for the first time in 14 years. So, people had incredibly high expectations for Starmer.
The UK economy had already been getting worse while the Conservative Party was in power, but Brexit made the situation even worse. Back then, people who supported Brexit believed that leaving the EU would improve the country and make Britain great again. But in reality, it turned out to be completely different from what they expected.
The second problem that has frustrated many British people is the condition of the National Health Service, or NHS. In recent years, the UK’s public healthcare system has been struggling badly, and it has become a very serious issue.
Surprisingly, around 7.5 million people in England are currently on waiting lists for hospital treatment.
Even cancer patients sometimes have to wait months to receive treatment because the system is so overwhelmed.
And the third major source of frustration is immigration.
This is also connected to Brexit. Many people who supported Brexit believed that leaving the EU would allow the UK to reduce immigration from Europe. It’s true that immigration from EU countries decreased, but instead, illegal immigration from Asia and Africa increased dramatically, and it has become a major social issue in Britain.
On top of that, Starmer’s Labour Party is on the left, there's a strong feeling that they're just welcoming illegal immigrants with open arms and giving them tons of support.
This has pushed public anger to a boiling point. I think that frustration was reflected in the most recent election that increased pressure on Starmer to resign. A right-wing populist party that strongly opposes immigration and globalization made major gains in the election, which shows how dissatisfied many voters have become with the government’s immigration policies.
As I said, the UK has had six prime ministers in just the past ten years.
Each new leader came into office with big promises and high ideals, and I think people had hope every time a new prime minister took over. But in the end, it feels like nothing has really changed. If anything, the economy has continued to get worse, illegal immigration is totally out of control, and Britain seems to be in a really difficult situation now.
I don’t fully understand every detail of British politics, but personally, I feel that the UK probably needs a leader with very strong leadership and realistic plans to rebuild the country — not just idealistic slogans.
Japan isn't quite as bad as the UK, but the few years between when former prime minister Abe passed away and when Sanae Takaichi took over were honestly pretty terrible. It felt like a time when Japan had stopped moving forward altogether.
You probably can’t imagine just how much Japan has improved since she became prime minister, but I really feel that Japanese politics has become much more positive and hopeful. Of course, reform isn't easy, and there's still a long way to go. Real change takes time.
But I feel like, thanks to her strong leadership as prime minister, some long-standing problems and controversial laws that had been ignored for years have finally started to be reconsidered, and little by little things seem to be moving forward again.
