Election

Read the latest General Election news, views and analysis.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Sunak hints at why he opted for a snap summer election

There is no good answer to the question of why Rishi Sunak called the general election for 4 July, other than that it comes at a time when things are marginally better than they were and before things could get a lot worse. There is, by the way, no good answer to the question of when would be a good time for the Conservatives to hold the election because they are 21 points behind in the polls and largely hate one another and the responsibility of government.  Sunak wants to make it about his record This morning, Sunak insisted on his broadcast rounds that the answer to ‘why now?’ was

James Johnson

Sunak’s snap election looks like a calamitous error

Until yesterday there was a fair amount of goodwill towards Rishi Sunak amongst his colleagues. Tory parliamentarians would not have been happy with a defeat in an election forced upon the Prime Minister at the end of the year, but they might have understood it. Most MPs felt the PM had been dealt a dire hand by his two predecessors, that he had scored a few good recent wins, and even that he might be able to negate some of the worst damage if his stewardship of the economy and implementation of the Rwanda plan paid off.  Sunak’s rain-splattered announcement changed everything Sunak’s rain-splattered announcement changed everything. By bringing the

Wednesday

Sam Leith Sam Leith

Sunak’s election speech was embarrassingly bad

Let’s be fair. It wasn’t Rishi Sunak’s fault it was raining. But it was, a bit, his fault that as someone who has ‘never been prouder to be British’, and so is presumably familiar with the way weather works in this country, he didn’t take one look at the lead-grey sky and make a contingency plan. That contingency plan could have been waiting 24 hours. It could have been delivering his speech indoors. It could have been – I don’t know – getting someone to stand a few feet away with a brolly, just in case.   As an incumbent Prime Minister setting out your stall for re-election, you don’t

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Are Labour really nailed on to win?

What happens when a resistible force collides with a moveable object?  Such is the nature of the imminent battle between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak for the keys to No. 10. Given the underwhelming appeal of both men and the extent of public disillusionment with politics in general, it is hardly likely to be a vintage clash. But with expectations for him and his party set so low, just by taking the initiative Sunak may cause some voters to reassess him. It now seems clear that a 4 July election has been the plan for quite some time and the PM’s repeated undertakings that polling day would come ‘in the

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

The general election has ruined prospects of an early rate cut

Would waiting another few months to call a general election have improved the Conservatives’ prospects? Rishi Sunak didn’t touch upon this in his speech today, announcing a general election for 4 July, but it seems likely that their broad assessment was no.  One of the big reasons for waiting until the autumn was the possibility of another fiscal statement. Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget left plenty to be desired by many Tory MPs, who wanted income tax cuts and changes to inheritance tax. The hope was that the public finances would improve in the spring and summer, offering up another chance to craft a tax-cutting narrative – and to give more

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sunak takes his biggest gamble yet: a July election

Rishi Sunak has chosen to go for a summer election. The Prime Minister has confirmed in an address to the nation this evening that the 2024 general election will be held on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. His announcement comes after speculation since this morning that Sunak was planning to roll the dice and go to the polls in the summer rather than wait for the autumn. Notably, No. 10 chose not to dampen down the speculation – and when asked at lunchtime Sunak repeated his old line that the election would be held in