![31%: The jump in food prices irking UK voters as they go to the polls](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AP24166499817326-1719968523.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440)
31%: The jump in food prices irking UK voters as they go to the polls
Al Jazeera
The cost of living is a key issue in an election expected to end 14 years of Conservative Party governance.
As voters in the United Kingdom go to the polls to choose their next government, the rising cost of living is among the top issues of concern.
Household budgets have been strained over the past few years by high inflation driven by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
While inflation has finally returned to the central bank’s target of 2 percent after hitting double-digit highs in 2022 and 2023, people are still paying much more for essentials, including food, than they were just a few years ago.
With public discontent over living standards running high, voters on Thursday are poised to turf the ruling Conservative Party out of office and return the Labour Party to power for the first time since 2010.
While the Bank of England has reduced the speed at which prices are rising by sharply raising interest rates, it has not reversed the price growth that has accumulated over the past few years.