Tabloid newspaper The Sun is backing a British government change.
Media mogul Robert Murdoch's newspaper writes in Thursday's edition that it's "time for a new captain".
The Sun backed Margaret Thatcher as new prime minister in 1979, and since then has backed the winner of every election.
It's not just the opinion polls that suggest a Labour victory in Thursday's British parliamentary election.
"Time for a new captain", the newspaper writes on its football-inspired front page, clarifying that it's not about a new national football team captain.
In an editorial, the newspaper describes the ruling Tories as a party "split by bickering and more interested in internal strife than governing the country".
Therefore, Labour and Keir Starmer deserve the chance to lead Britain, the newspaper writes, adding "there are still many question marks surrounding Labour".
Prosecuted CEO
That The Sun would back Labour was expected, as the newspaper – and officially retired Murdoch – are known for wanting to be close to the winner at any cost. But there were question marks that made the choice not seem so obvious.
Several high-ranking officials within the publisher News UK are outspoken opponents of Labour, and CEO Rebekah Brooks – previously editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Murdoch newspaper News of the World – was one of those prosecuted in connection with the major phone hacking scandal in the British tabloid press in the early 2000s.
The prosecutor when the charges were brought: Keir Starmer.
Starmer thanks
He now says he "delightedly" accepts the support from The Sun.
It shows how much our party has changed and is back to serving the people. That's the change we're offering in this election, he says according to The Guardian.
Conservative morning newspaper The Times, also owned by News UK, has not yet declared who they will back.
Earlier on Wednesday, Evening Standard backed Labour. Like The Sun, the newspaper has been close to the Tory party throughout its current rule.
The Sun was founded in 1964, bought by Rupert Murdoch in 1969, and became a tabloid newspaper. Until 2018, it was Britain's most widely read daily newspaper.
In tone, the newspaper is often right-wing populist and has backed all prime ministers since 1979.
In 1992, when Conservative John Major surprisingly won over Labour's Neil Kinnock, the newspaper wrote its famous headline "It's the Sun wot won it" (It was The Sun that did it). On election day, they had the headline "If Kinnock wins, the last one to leave the country can turn off the lights".
The newspaper then had a circulation of over four million, and today's influence is considered smaller, with an estimated circulation of 600,000 copies.
Considering Labour's large leads in voter surveys, the newspaper's support is not as unexpected as when they chose Labour's Tony Blair over John Major in 1997. The Sun then backed Blair in two more elections before switching to the Conservative Party.
We realize that the country is tired of the Tory party, just like it was in 1997, says former editor-in-chief Stuart Higgins to BBC.
Source: BBC, The Guardian
