Two politicians are currently getting a lot of media attention in the UK ahead of the general election on the 4th of July 2024. They represent opposites of a spectrum. One has spent his whole political career speaking to our fears and our prejudices, leaning into feelings of discontent and anger. It has made him hugely influential and he is now running to become an MP for the first time in his life.

The other politician has had a low profile until now. Suddenly he seems to be everywhere on social media. Journalists are sharing his latest stunts – videos of him looking jolly and joyful, laughing as he’s drumming in a retirement home or going down a water slide.

In a more serious video he talks about what it’s like to be a carer for his disabled son. He talks about his father dying when he was young and how, a few years later, he nursed his mother when she was suffering from terminal cancer. He speaks of the importance of a society looking after everyone. He talks about carers, about those who suffer, those who are ill and vulnerable and about what politicians can do to help them.

So here we have the two sides of the British general election – appealing to two different sides of human nature.

We have the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, once again promising that the answers lie in getting rid of everything that scares and angers us.

Then we have Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal democrats, speaking to the part of this country that wants to be inclusive, to help, to nurture and to support.

So what can astrology tell us about these two characters and the upcoming election?

Nigel Farage’s birth chart

It looks like it will be a good election for Nigel Farage. If the birth data is correct then Jupiter, the planet of good fortune, will be almost exactly conjunct his Midheaven on the 4th of July. He will be lifted up, he will be seen and all eyes will be on him. Perhaps the Tories will fall apart and elect him leader. It’s all possible.

The North Node has just crossed his natal Sun, so this is his destiny. He speaks to something in the collective consciousness. Often with characters like him and Donald Trump their purpose is to collect all that is ugly and nasty out there and then speak it back to the crowd. They highlight the parts of society that need help, the bits that we haven’t focused enough on. A lot of darkness is channeled through them, to hopefully, eventually be transformed and released. The question is just how much damage those dark urges and instincts can cause while they are being uplifted and given power.

There is a sense that victory, when it comes on the 4th of July, might be short-lived or a bit of a poisoned chalice for Mr Farage. He will have Saturn retrograding over his Chiron and then crossing his Mars and Sun in the next two years, as well as squaring his Moon. Tough.

He might be stymied in power. Hamstrung, because his whole career has been about tearing things down.

Uranus will also cross his Venus, then his Midheaven and move into his 10th house. Lots of change and upheaval.

And Pluto is squaring his Mercury, potentially a sign of conflict and power-struggles. Although looking at the transits I’m wondering if there might be some domestic stuff going on for him too. Perhaps a love affair or some kind of romantic entanglement that will take up time and energy as Pluto is in the 5th house and his Mercury is in the 8th.

His progressions also speak of a short period of success, that could be followed by disappointment and disillusionment with his political peers.

Ed Davey’s birth chart

I don’t have a birth time for Ed Davey, so looking at his chart will be a bit more hit and miss.

He also has powerful transits around the time of the election. The first is Pluto on his natal Moon/Mars conjunction. Pluto can bring someone power and Pluto on Moon/Mars means the transit is connected to deep set values and feelings that he is willing to fight for. With that conjunction he is a fighter at heart. And who does he fight for? The Aquarius placement suggests it’s the underdog, the left behind, the misunderstood. Aquarius can also simply stand for “the people”.

He’s also had Saturn on his natal Saturn/Chiron conjunction, which is opposite Uranus/Pluto. That’s quite the chart pattern. This election has been hard work. It’s highlighted his childhood wounds, but there is a sense that this is an unusual and resilient character who is somehow compelled to work with that wounding.

Jupiter will be conjunct his natal North Node during the campaign and moving towards his natal Jupiter after the election. All good signs for Ed Davey and the Lib dems.

His progressions suggest this will be an important chapter in his life. He has recently had a progressed New Moon (in 2022), this is the beginning of a new phase.

His progressed Moon is on his Chiron in Pisces. So he really is working with his own wounds here, wounds that speak to the collective and might perhaps be healing to the collective. Progressed Venus is moving towards his natal Moon/Mars, another positive astrological sign.

The connection with the collective

So what can these two uplifted men say about the UK as country?

The connections between Nigel Farage and the UK chart from 1801 are uncanny. Farage’s North Node is on the UK’s Midheaven. His Sun is on the chart’s North Node. Yikes. He really is part of the country’s fate and growth.

His Moon is on the UK’s Mercury. So he can feel into the country’s state of mind. His Saturn is on the UK’s Pluto, channeling and concretising its darker instincts and hunger for power. His Mars is very near the Descendant – he will stand for fighting “the other”.

What about Ed Davey then?

The links aren’t as apparent and much softer. There is a Venus conjunction between the two charts – a connection around what we love and how we show it.

Davey’s Sun is very close to the UK’s point of home and ancestry, the IC. So he does stand for and represent something in the country’s nature. His Pluto/Uranus trine the UK’s Mercury and sextile its Moon from the 12th house of the collective. So he can be a channel for a different story, a different energy. They sit in the sign of Virgo – the sign of service and of those who work in the healing arts.

Fingers crossed this is the story that starts to resonate on the 4th of July and in the years that follow.

Photo by Chris Boland on Unsplash.