Political analysts warn the new UK government led by the Labour Party's Keir Starmer faces a difficult time ahead in addressing multiple issues left unresolved by the Conservatives despite achieving an historic landslide in Thursday's general election.
Starmer officially became the new British prime minister on Friday after Labour won a massive outright majority in the vote, while outgoing Conservative leader Rishi Sunak saw his party record their worst ever electoral performance.
In an election night event at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), analysts gave their reaction after the exit poll released immediately after the polls closed on Thursday evening showed Starmer was on course for a resounding victory.
Laura Serra, a research officer at the LSE's Electoral Psychology Observatory, said that after 14 years in power, the Conservatives have failed to to meet voters' expectations in addressing key issues like Brexit, rising living costs, and immigration controls.
"I think the most important reason is that this country has had a Conservative government for such a long time. And this government hasn't really delivered on the policies that people were expecting them to deliver. All the voters that chose them because of immigration are disappointed. All the voters that chose them because of economic competence are disappointed. And so Labour has managed to get this landslide, not so much because the population has suddenly become really left-wing, rather because the population is just really upset with the way that this government has behaved," she said.
Despite Labour's considerable winning margin, politics professor Tony Travers said that the party -- which has not governed since 2010 -- is now left with the daunting task of addressing a series of longstanding issues, including revitalizing the economy, managing immigration, and enhancing public services.
"The first challenge it faces is that the UK economy hasn't been growing very fast in recent years. So it's got to try to get growth up. They promise to get growth up, which is a very major commitment and a very difficult thing to do," said Travers.
Since becoming Labour leader four years ago, Starmer has overseen a shift in the party's direction as he sought to lead it towards government, and despite ousting the Conservatives from power, Travers believes there is unlikely to be any substantial changes under a Labour administration in the UK.
"The policies on offer from the Labour Party are not different from those that the Conservative Party was offering or has been running. The truth is there isn't that much public money to spend on new services. The amount of resources they've got to spend on new services or changing it much is limited. So, it doesn't give any party taking power a lot of freedom to move away a lot from what the previous government was offering and delivering," he said.
Incoming Labour gov't faces tough task despite historic election win: analysts
Autistic children are experiencing a transformation in their lives with the introduction of assistance dogs, which give them not only companionship but also invaluable support.
Xuan Xuan was diagnosed with autism not long after his second birthday. He didn't speak, nor respond to other people.
Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. The prevalence rate of autism among children in China, as reported by the National Health Commission, has reached seven per 1,000 people.
When Xuan Xuan was seven, the boy's condition changed dramatically after dog Harry came to live with the family.
Harry is a three-year-old black Labrador, trained at the Erxing Shanghai Guide and Assistant Dogs School to aid autistic people.
Yu Kai, Xuan Xuan's father, is very gratified after seeing Xuan Xuan's change since Harry came into his life.
"When Xuan Xuan displays stereotyped behaviors, Harry comes and touches him to distract his attention. Xuan Xuan used to immerse himself in playing electronic devices at home, and we had no choice but to allow him to do so. However, since Harry came to our house, Xuan Xuan [has given up playing with electronic devices] and now plays with Harry instead. Sometimes at home, Harry even carries a toy in the mouth to Xuan Xuan to play with," Yu said.
Harry often accompanies Xuan Xuan to his special kindergarten and plays with him after school. Two months after the dog appeared on the scene, Xuan Xuan's mother Gong Minglu saw significant differences in her son.
"When children talk about 'My Little Pony' or 'Ultraman', Xuan Xuan can't participate in the conversation. However, whenever Harry accompanies him to kindergarten, many children circle around to play with him all the time," Gong said.
"Even if he only makes a little progress compared to the day before, we are genuinely happy," she said.
After six to 10 months' training, assistance dogs not only required to master 17 basic commands such as sitting, standing up, and following, but also many advanced commands such as anchoring, deep hugging, and comforting.
While the assistance dogs bring warmth to children with autism, some netizens raise concerns about the dogs' treatment. Some worry that the dogs cannot drink or eat at the proper times when they are serving children.
"At home, if it wants to drink water, it will go to drink water. When it wants to defecate, it will sniff or drag us, letting us know what it wants to do," Gong said.
Some people point out that the children may hurt the dogs. However, Gong argued that parents would stop their children before they really hurt the dogs.
"The child may not be able to control his hand strength when touching the dog, which I admit. At that time, parents should intervene to control both the dogs and the children, and prevent their children from hurting the dog," said Gong.
"Children often can't control their strength and don't really mean to hurt the dog. The dog typically reacts in ways that remind the children to stop their behavior, which has a positive effect on their intervention," said Wang Chunsun, a dog trainer at the Erxing Dogguides.
Each assistance dog would serve a child for eight years. After it retires, the child has the privilege to adopt the dog first.
"The dog can only work for eight years. After it retires, if we want to adopt it, we are first in line. A few years before its service expires, we can apply for another assistance dog for our child," Gong said.
Harry is one of the first batch of professional autism assistance dogs under the "Healing Dogs for Star Children" initiative.
The initiative aims to enhance the lives of families with autistic children by providing specially trained assistance dogs.
The project received support from the Chinese Relief and Development Foundation, Hello the Paw, and Erxing Dogguides, organizations dedicated to rescuing and caring for stray animals as well as training and breeding guide dogs for visually impaired individuals.
"I often check the applications in our system. I see many patients visit our system frequently, expressing their anxiety and worries. They often say that we cannot afford to wait longer as our child is getting older, and the effectiveness of intervention would be weaker," said Chen Qiang, person in charge of the "Healing Dogs for Star Children" initiative.
In Foshan City, south China's Guangdong Province, 12-year-old Lu Lu is waiting for an assistance dog can comfort her.
Lu Lu's grandmother mentioned that without an assistance dog to prevent Lu Lu from wandering away, they sometimes have to tie her with a rope.
"I'm with her all day long, but I still cannot prevent her from wandering away. [One day, when she went missing,] we had to call the police for help. She runs fast, so we have to tie her with a rope because I am old and cannot catch up with her. If she gets a dog, she cannot run away," said Dong Zhihua, Lu Lu's grandmother.
Chen said that Dong is the first batch of applicants for assistance dog, but unfortunately, Lu Lu didn't find a suitable match.
One day, Chen visited Lu Lu with a dog under training named Bao Bao. Although Bao Bao hasn't qualified for the job, the workers of the project want to find whether Bao Bao is a suitable dog for Lu Lu.
Fortunately, Lu Lu and Bao Bao like each other very much. After a couple of months of training, Lu Lu may have a dog that can prevent her from wandering away and provide comfort.
"Even if there is a little hope, we will help Lu Lu to seize it," said Chen.
Autistic children embrace new life with accompany of assistant dog
