Labour leader Keir Starmer made his first public appearance of election year in Bristol, western England
Labour leader Keir Starmer made his first public appearance of election year in Bristol, western England AFP

Britain's main opposition leader Keir Starmer said on Thursday that a much anticipated general election this year will offer the UK the chance to "get our future back".

In his first major public appearance of 2024, the Labour leader laid out what he called "Project Hope" in a lengthy speech broadcast live on TV news channels.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative party has been in power since 2010, is yet to announce the date of the vote but has said it will be held this year.

Starmer, whose centre-left party is well ahead in opinion polls, said the election will be a choice between "14 years of decline" and "a decade of national renewal".

"This is your year. The opportunity to shape our country's future rests in your hands," he said in a direct pitch to voters during an address from the southwestern city of Bristol.

"The chance, finally, to turn the page, lift the weight off our shoulders, unite as a country and get our future back," Starmer added.

The 61-year-old Starmer said that he "hated the futility of opposition" and was "ready" for the election, in which his party will need to overturn a large Tory majority to win power.

"Bring it on," he told Sunak, attacking the Conservatives' over low economic growth, high taxes and the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Starmer's speech was thin on policy detail but he repeated existing pledges to spur higher growth, put more police on Britain's streets and create a publicly owned clean national energy company.

Labour has enjoyed double-digit poll leads for over a year now and Starmer, a former chief state prosecutor, is widely expected to become the UK's next prime minister.

He said voters were right to be "anti-Westminster", referring to the UK parliament in London, and "angry about what politics has become" following three Conservative prime ministers in little over a year.

But he warned against apathy.

"The biggest challenge we face, bar none, (is) the shrug of the shoulder," said Starmer, urging Britons to "reject the pointless populist gestures" and "low-road cynicism that the Tories believe is all you deserve".

Sunak was due to meet members of the public at a community centre in the Midlands later on Thursday.