DARTFORD, England (AP) — Mistrust has spread like a damp summer fog across campaign trails in the United States and the United Kingdom in the run-up to July 4.
On that day, British voters will elect a new parliament in an election that is expected to end with a Labour government after 14 years under the Conservatives. Americans across the pond, deeply polarized by the rematch between the Democratic president Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trumpwill celebrate Independence Day in a manner that resembles unity, with barbecues and fireworks, ahead of their vote on November 5.
There’s much to celebrate on July 4 for the world’s largest democracy and the venerable kingdom it birthed, 248 years after they split and embarked on a slow, arduous journey to give all citizens the right to vote. Both are still rooted in the Magna Carta, the English document signed in 1215. It enshrined the idea that leaders — including kings, presidents and their governments — are not above the law. The nations have become close friends and staunch allies.
That’s how it started.
As for how things are going, the run-up to July 4, 2024 — Independence Day for one country, Election Day for another — offers a snapshot of the stress test facing voters in each country.
“I’m actually very discouraged because I don’t think any party knows what they’re doing,” Jacqueline Richards, 77, a resident of Dartford, England, said of her country’s election. “But when you look at yours in America, it’s not that great, is it?”
Confidence has taken a hit in both countries
Every democratic election is essentially about who voters trust to govern their country so they can live their own lives.
Debates are an aptitude test for candidates in real time, never more so than during Thursday’s showdown between Biden, 81, and Trump, 77. Biden’s wavering performance did the opposite of building trust, even among some of his most loyal supporters. Trump, meanwhile, repeated his lies about the January 6, 2021 insurrection and his record as president.
That’s just the latest example of why distrust and a sense of resignation dominate the emotional landscape in both countries, according to voters interviewed by The Associated Press in recent weeks. From battleground Wisconsin to mirror image Dartford, England, voters said years of misinformation, scandal and lies have robbed them of the kind of optimism or excitement they once felt about the right to vote or the future.
In Britain, 45% say they “almost never” trust governments to put the country’s interests first, up from 34% in 2019, according to a survey published June 12 by the National Center for Social Research. The pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine and the country’s cost of living crisis affected living standards and the economy, the report said. Two Tory Prime Ministers were deposed. And there was Boris Johnsonwho resigned rather than be expelled from parliament over drinking parties at 10 Downing Street when the country was in lockdown due to COVID-19.
A vote to oust the Conservative government is not necessarily a vote for Labour, opposition leader Keir Starmer acknowledged during a debate on 27 May. Voters, he said, “still have questions about us: has Labour changed enough? Do I trust them with my money, our borders, our security?”
Starmer’s own answer, of course, was yes. But British voters told the AP in the weeks before the election that they are far from certain.
“They promise and promise and promise and nothing ever changes,” said Shane Bassett, 34, the bar manager of a pub in the suburb of Dartford, England, where the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 is said to have begun. “It doesn’t matter who comes in — whether it’s Labour or Conservative, it’s all the same. They all lie.”
In the United States, trust has been eroded by increasing political polarization, misinformation and Trump’s lies about Biden’s victory in the 2020 election – all amplified by social media.
About 2 in 10 Americans say they trust the U.S. government to do the right thing “almost always” or “usually,” according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. About 6 in 10 say they can trust the government “only sometimes” and about 2 in 10 say they can never trust the government to do the right thing.
Nearly three-quarters of American adults blame the news media for the country’s divisions, according to a 2023 AP-NORC poll. Families and friends have learned to avoid discussing politics at Thanksgiving dinner tables and other gatherings. In many places, even Fourth of July celebrations — a national holiday on which Americans celebrate the 1776 ratification of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain — fall under this practice of restraint.
In Racine, Wisconsin, Rebecca Eisel, 48, wondered how the vast United States, home to 262 million eligible voters and the world’s largest economy, would face a second chance that few Americans wanted.
“How did our democratic process result in something that the majority of the population doesn’t like?” Eisel, 48, said over a sandwich at Maple Table restaurant.
United States: ‘The country is struggling’
The last time Kathleen Barker, 64, was enthusiastic about a candidate, it was Ronald Reagan, who served two terms in the 1980s and left office by describing the country as a “shining city upon a hill.”
“He was a very real person, very respectful, family oriented,” she said as she walked her dog near the river in Racine. “You could relate to him. He felt like a regular guy.”
Now, she says, the “dirty back-and-forth” between Biden and Trump — both of whom insist the other is unfit for office — suggests we can’t trust either to engage with the big problems facing the United States.
“People are poor. The country is having a hard time. And this is their focus?” she said.
Emmanuel McKinstry, a 58-year-old businessman, expressed a similar frustration. The economy, he said as he waited in line to hear Trump speak in Racine, is his biggest problem. The next morning, McKinstry said he would still vote for Trump — with reservations.
“I’m tired of politicians working for themselves and not really stepping up and asking people what we really want,” McKinstry said. “We put you in office. What are you going to do for us?”
The last presidential candidate to excite high school teacher Marcus T. West, 49, was Democrat Barack Obama, who went on to serve two terms.
“He understood the importance of educators. He had good intentions,” West said over breakfast at Mrs. Betty’s Kitchen. “He’s the last person who I felt was speaking like me, talking to me, pursuing policies that I liked.”
This year, he said of Biden and Trump, “they’re not taking care of us.”
Britain: ‘Not very optimistic’
In Britain, the distrust is less personal. It’s about scandals — think Johnson and “partygate” — and the cost of living crisis.
On May 22, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had good news and a bombshell: inflation had fallen to 2.3% for the first time in three years and he immediately dissolved parliament, setting the clock ticking for elections on July 4.
But it is the images that remind us of that day. Rain soaked his suit shoulders as Sunak spoke where his predecessors had stood for 275 years, outside the iconic black door of 10 Downing Street. No one protected him with an umbrella. Protesters almost drowned out his words by playing “Things Can Only Get Better”, a rival Labor campaign song used in the Tony Blair era.
“It can only get wetter,” were the reports on various news sites.
That’s what concerns Bassett, the manager of the Wat Tyler Pub, named after a leader of the Peasants’ Revolt who started at that site. You can’t talk about politics in British pubs, he says — perhaps the antithesis of America’s reluctance to stir up trouble at parties over the same subject.
But Bassett looked around the empty dining room during lunch. There were no customers to offend. So he let it fly.
The pub’s energy bill rose from the usual 800 pounds a month (about $1,000) to 1,200 pounds (about $1,500) last winter. It has struggled since the Christmas period to attract customers for a quality beer of 4.50. He thinks the owners probably won’t sell the property until four years after purchasing it.
“I’m not very optimistic,” he said. Thinking of his relatives in Canada, Bassett added: “If I could leave the country, I would.”
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Fernando reported from Racine, Wisconsin. AP writer Jill Lawless contributed from London.
