Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will go head to head in a General Election in July with the Labour leader clear favourite to lead the next Government. Tony McDonough reports
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call a July UK General Election, it is being widely reported.
Following a day of speculation on Wednesday it is now likely that Britain will go to the polls on July 4, with Parliament expected to be dissolved at the end of May.
Labour, led by Sir Keir Starmer, has long held a big poll lead over his rivals, with most pollsters showing leads of 20 points or more. Indications are strong that Labour will achieve a landslide victory after being out of power since 2010.
On Wednesday morning the Government received a rare piece of good economic news when it was revealed that inflation had fallen to 2.3%, its lowest rate for three years. Last year the cost of living hit double figures causing hardship for millions of people.
However, this will be a small crumb of comfort for Mr Sunak. The fall in inflation, though welcomed, was smaller than hoped for. This makes a June interest rate cut less likely keeping the pressure on those trying to pay their mortgages.
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Some in the Conservative Party have urged Mr Sunak to delay the election for as long as possible to give the economy a chance to gather momentum. However, the general feeling is that it would be too little too late.
Ahead of Mr Sunak’s official announcement, expected around teatime on Wednesday, Mr Starmer said: “We are fully ready to go whenever the prime minister calls an election.
“We have a fully organised and operational campaign ready to go. And we think the country is crying out for a general election so I would urge the prime minister to get on with it.”
