WATCH: What to know about the United Kingdom's 2024 general election

Amid a big year for elections globally, the United Kingdom is now set to go to the polls to vote in their own general election on July 4.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election — a surprise to members of his own party and before his January 2025 obligation to hold an election — throwing the Conservative Party's 14-year control of the Parliament into question. Chief opposition to Sunak's conservatives are the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, hoping to capitalize on a voting block frustrated by a deteriorating National Health Service, rising costs across economic sectors and a strained post-Brexit relationship with the European Union.

Complicating the Conservatives bid to stay in power — top Brexit supporter Nigel Farage's return to lead the Reform UK party, which in a recent YouGov public opinion poll showed Reform UK trailing Conservatives by only two percentage points, while trailing the Labour party, which currently holds a sizable lead.

The PBS NewsHour's Tim McPhillips spoke to Matthias Matthijs, Dean Acheson Chair at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the Rishi Sunak's choice to hold an election, what U.K. voters are focusing on before they go to the polls and what viewers around the world should pay attention to in the weeks to come.

Subscribe:
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts

Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6

Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour