Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak will be going head to head in six weeks (Picture: UK Parliament/AFP via Getty Images)
The next UK General Election will take place on July 4, Rishi Sunak is expected to announce in a speech outside Downing Street this evening.
It will bring an end to a dizzying day of speculation and rumours in Westminster, fuelled by reports that ministers had been told attendance at this afternoon’s cabinet meeting was mandatory.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron rushed back from a visit to Albania and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps delayed a trip to the Baltic states by several hours.
At Prime Minister’s Questions earlier today, Sunak gave an non-specific answer after the SNP’s Westminster leader asked him to tell the public if he was about to call an election.
He told Stephen Flynn: ‘There is going to be a general election in the second half of this year.’
Before today, November was the most heavily anticipated date for the next general election, with many observers expecting the PM to wait as long as possible ahead of the January 2025.
But the PM appears to have decided to gamble on the idea that voters will be swayed by today’s positive economic news.
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This morning, the Office for National Statistics announced the inflation rate had fallen to 2.3% from 3.2% in March – essentially hitting the government’s 2% target.
However, it looks like the Conservatives face an extremely steep challenge to remain in power beyond election day.
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The most recent YouGov poll on national voting intention, released last week, put Labour 27 percentage points ahead of the Tories.
If the government wants to catch up with the opposition, that means it would have to make up more than four points for each week of the campaign.
Mr Sunak’s party also took a drubbing at the local elections earlier this month, losing 474 councillors to put it in third place nationally after the Liberal Democrats.
We’ve already had a glimpse of how they might tackle the challenge though, after the prime minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt both made major speeches last week.
Last week, Keir Starmer outlined the ‘first steps’ Labour would take if the party takes power (Credits: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)
Both tried to paint the opposition as inexperienced and unable to keep the country or economy safe.
Meanwhile, at a campaign launch event last week the Labour party argued that 14 years of Tories in power have left the UK in a worse state and laid out the six ‘first steps’ the party would take if it won power.
Today’s announcement also means the 105 MPs who have already announced they will be stepping down at the next election now know their final day of work.
They include Labour veteran Harriet Harman, former chancellors Nadhim Zahawi and Kwasi Kwarteng, and the Green Party’s only ever MP Caroline Lucas.
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
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