5.23.2024

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UK Election Day Set

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday set the date for UK general elections for July 4. The announcement comes as Sunak’s center-right Conservative Party trails 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party in polls, with respondents largely citing inflation and the influx of migrants for their discontent.

In the UK, general elections are held no more than five years apart, with the prime minister setting the date. The most recent election was in 2019 when former Prime Minister Boris Johnson replaced then-Prime Minister Theresa May, both Conservatives. Sunak had until January 2025 to hold new elections; his announcement of early elections came as official figures showed inflation slowing to 2.3% last month, down from 11% in 2022. 

Sunak trails behind Keir Starmer, who has pulled his left-wing Labour Party toward the political center and oversaw a string of local election wins this month. If Labour wins the upcoming election, it would end 14 years of Conservative rule.

Graceland Stays with Family

A Tennessee judge yesterday ruled to prevent the foreclosure and sale of Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate. The Memphis estate—which had been scheduled to go to auction today—can stay with Presley’s family, with the judge accusing the company trying to sell it of possible fraud.

Last year, Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC said it loaned Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie $3.8M in 2018 using Graceland as collateral. The company said failure to repay the loan allows it to foreclose on the property, submitting a notarized note as evidence of the loan.

Elvis’s granddaughter, Danielle Riley Keough—who owns Graceland—sued to block the sale, calling the documents counterfeit and the company fake. The notary public named denies ever overseeing a document signed by Lisa Marie. The company—represented in written statements by a man named Gregory Naussany—lacks a physical address. Following the judge’s ruling, the company has withdrawn its claims.

Graceland boasts over 600,000 visitors each year. A 2020 estimate places the value of the 14-acre property—purchased in 1957 for $102,500—upward of $400M.

More Student Debt Relief

The Biden administration approved the cancellation of $7.7B in student debt yesterday for an estimated 160,500 eligible borrowers. The move is part of the White House's incremental approach to canceling federal student loans via program adjustments as it builds out a broader debt plan. Yesterday's approval brings the administration's total debt relief to $167B for nearly 5 million borrowers. 

The latest round of relief applies to people enrolled in specific federal loan programs that reduce or cancel debt in exchange for public services like teaching or by consideration of an individual's income, known as income-driven repayment plans. Borrowers will receive an email if they qualify. Learn more about IDR plans here. 

Last summer, the Supreme Court rejected the administration's broad $400B attempt to cancel student debt, a major Biden campaign promise. Last month, officials announced a more targeted approach relying on the 1965 Higher Education Act, which could see debt canceled for 30 million borrowers as soon as the fall. Legal challenges are expected.

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Historybook: Infamous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are killed by police (1934); John D. Rockefeller dies (1937); German Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann revealed to have been captured in Argentina (1960); Musician Jewel born (1974); James Bond actor Roger Moore dies (2017).