IF the polls are to be believed, today’s voting should mark the end of the road for 14 years of Tory rule in Britain.
 
This will undoubtedly be welcomed by working people who have faced a decade and a half of harsh austerity, imperialist war and inept, corrupt governance.
 
The alternative, a Tory win, an apparent vindication of their record and another five years, at least, of the Conservatives in power would place the left and trade union movement in an even more difficult position than we face today.
 
But even the pollsters predicting a big win for Labour acknowledge that very few people are enthused about the prospect of an incoming Keir Starmer government.
 
Starmer continues to poll deeply negatively, just slightly less so than Sunak. Over half of the population consider him untrustworthy.
 
In the last few weeks, Starmer’s Labour Party has settled on one word to sum up their offering: “change.”
 
Much like when Obama employed it, this attempt at a deep and meaningful slogan is anything but. It is vacuous. The promise of change without any definition can mean anything to anyone.
 
It is clear from Starmer’s ignominious record and the platform on which Labour has fought this campaign that the only change he will deliver is a changing of the guard as a government determined to protect capitalism and the wealth and power of the ruling class.
 
A Starmer victory will not be any kind of meaningful victory for working people.
 
As has always been the case throughout history, real change and advancing the class struggle will only be achieved by working people themselves, by the left and trade union movement standing up and fighting.
 
The imperative for the Communist Party in these elections has been to use this as an opportunity to bring the arguments for socialism, for peace and revolution into the heart of working-class communities across England, Scotland and Wales.
 
Our aim has been to build and strengthen the party for the struggles that lie ahead — along with strengthening and arming the whole left and labour movement.
 
We have stood in 14 constituencies up and down the country.
 
We have distributed almost 1,000,000 election addresses and leaflets throughout Britain.
 
Our two “red weekends” of campaigning reached over 50 cities and towns on both occasions.
 
Over 1,000 people attended our online all-Britain pre-election rally on Tuesday.
 
Party activity has been electrified across the country and applications for membership are flying in.
 
Our Twelve Point Programme for Real Change has resonated with working people who are now more than ever questioning why we can spend billions sponsoring the slaughter in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza but not a single penny to make life better here in Britain.
 
Working people are rejecting the imposed binary of the first-past-the-post system that upholds these fundamentals of the capitalist system in increasing numbers.
 
Our fight doesn’t end with the results on Friday morning — it begins in earnest.
 
The empty promises of social democracy will quickly be exposed under Starmer. The opportunity to raise class consciousness and build the forces for a socialist revolution will be there for the taking.
 
If you want to play your part — vote, join and fight with the Communist Party.
 
Johnnie Hunter is communications director for the Communist Party of Britain.