The Crown star Imelda Staunton backs Labour: 'Time to turn the page on 14 years of Tory chaos and failure'
The Crown star Imelda Staunton has backed Labour ahead of the general election on July 4, urging voters to end 14 years of “Tory chaos and failure”.
The actress, who played Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix royal family drama, featured in a Labour email asking voters to donate to their campaign.
She said: “We’re facing an important choice on Thursday 4 July: will we elect a Labour government that changes our country, or suffer five more years of Tory chaos and failure?”
Staunton, who is married to Downton Abbey star Jim Carter, said “the status quo is broken” and “it’s not working for too many of our families”.
The actress, who grew up in Archway, north London, was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 2005 for her role in Vera Drake.
She has won Bafta’s and Laurence Olivier Awards and in 2015, she won the best musical performance award at the the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her role in Gypsy.
Staunton spoke out as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged voters not to “sleepwalk” into a Labour government.
Speaking at a campaign event in Chelsea, the Prime Minister said: “We can’t let Britain sleepwalk into this. It is our job, it is our duty over the next 10 days to wake people up to this danger.
“So I say to all of you, I say to every Conservative, don’t surrender to Labour, fight for every vote, fight for our values, fight for our vision of Britain.”
He added: “I understand people’s hesitation with giving us their support again.
“I’m not blind to their frustrations with me, with our party, the last few years have not been easy for anyone with Covid, with Ukraine, we have not got everything right, we haven’t made as much progress as we would have liked in some areas.
“But this election is not a by-election, it is not a referendum on me, or our party, it is a choice about the future of our country and the government you want to lead for five years.”
