Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will there be a summer election?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Getty Images)

It’s less than a fortnight till the local elections where Rishi Sunak will face his last major electoral test before going to the polls for a general election later this year. Tory MPs are braced for it to be a difficult night. The loss of Tory councillors en masse seems inevitable. If Sunak is really unlucky, he could lose one or both of the two Tory metro mayors. The West Midlands mayor Andy Street is viewed to be the most vulnerable – one poll last week suggested he is on course to lose, another said he could hold on by two votes. If the Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen goes then both Sunak’s critics and his supporters expect things to become rather unpredictable. Houchen was elected the last time around with a majority over 70 per cent.

Yet despite all the talk of Tory gloom, there is persistent chatter in Westminster about whether Sunak will choose to call a general election sooner rather than later.

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