A UK general election is set to take place on July 4, as reported by British media on Wednesday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with his top ministers before making the announcement. Political editors at the BBC, ITV, Sky News, and The Guardian all revealed that Sunak would specify the date in a statement after the cabinet meeting.
This will be the first time that 44-year-old Sunak, who became the leader of the largest party in parliament through an internal Conservative vote in October 2022, faces the public while in charge. The upcoming vote is the third since the 2016 Brexit referendum and comes as Sunak aims to capitalize on improved economic data to win over voters affected by rising living costs.
One of Sunak's key promises as a former financier was to halve inflation within a year from its peak of over 11.0 percent at the end of 2022. This target was achieved last year and inflation rates further decreased to a nearly three-year low of 2.3 percent in March, leading finance minister Jeremy Hunt to proclaim, "This proves that the plan is working."
In recent times, political commentators have increasingly speculated that Sunak, who is trailing behind the main opposition Labour party in the polls, might attempt to gain an advantage from the more positive economic outlook. However, critics argue that this improvement is primarily influenced by global economic shifts rather than government policies.
Sunak has previously evaded announcing a specific election date, stating only that he will go to the country in the second half of this year. Speculation intensified when Sunak and his top officials on Wednesday declined to deny rumors that he was about to call an election following the release of favorable data. The rumors gained traction when Foreign Secretary David Cameron was summoned back from a trip to Albania and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps postponed a visit to eastern Europe to attend a Cabinet meeting. Hunt also cancelled a planned television interview for Wednesday evening, according to ITV's political editor, as journalists, photographers, and camera crews flocked to Downing Street.
