General Election date set after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes surprise announcement

Voters will be going to the polls in Sunderland on July 4 after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a surprise General Election announcement.

The soaked PM stood in heavy rain to reveal he had asked the King for permission to dissolve Parliament, adding the election would take place at a dangerous time for the world.

Pointing to war in Ukraine, and in the Middle East, the Prime Minister said: “This election will take place at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the Cold War.”

The 1993 pop song Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream could be heard playing from a protester’s speaker positioned outside Downing Street as Mr Sunak began his speech in the rain.

The song is associated with Labour’s 1997 general election victory.

Rishi Sunak said he would “never leave the people of this country to face the darkest of days alone”.

“I have never and will never leave the people of this country to face the darkest of days alone, and you know that because you’ve seen it,” he said.

“As I did then I will forever do everything in my power to provide you with the strongest possible protection I can. That is my promise to you. Because for so many of us, it’s easy to forget the scale of what we’ve been through.”

He said the improved economic picture on Tuesday demonstrated that “our plan and our priorities are working”.

“Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future, to decide whether we want to build on the progress we have made or risk going back to square one with no plan and no certainty.

“Earlier today I spoke with His Majesty the King to request the dissolution of Parliament.

“The King has granted this request and we will have a general election on July 4.”

Mr Sunak said voters must now decide whether they wanted him or Sir Keir Starmer to lead the country.

“I hope that my work since I became Prime Minister shows that we have a plan and are prepared to take bold action necessary for our country to flourish,” he said.

“Now, I have stuck with that plan and always been honest with you about what is needed, even when that’s been difficult, because I’m guided by doing what is right for our country, not what is easy.

“I can’t say the same thing for the Labour Party, because I don’t know what they offer and, in truth, I don’t think you know either.

“And that’s because they have no plan, there is no bold action, and as a result the future can only be uncertain with them.”

Sir Keir declared “it’s time for change” and told Britons to “vote Labour” after the news.

The Labour Party tweeted a video of its leader saying: “Britain is a great and proud country. But after 14 years under the Tories, nothing seems to work anymore.

“Public services crumbling, ambulances that don’t come, families weighed down by higher mortgage rates, antisocial behaviour on our high streets. The list goes on and on.

“Political chaos feeding decline, feeding chaos, feeding decline. The answer is not five more years of the Tories. They have failed.

“Give the Tories five more years and things will only get worse. Britain deserves better than that.”

Surprise news

Rumours began to swirl after the Conservative Party leader refused to rule out a summer vote, and senior Ministers were summoned to Downing Street.

Number 10 then announced the Prime Minister would make a statement no later than 5pm. But the public was kept waiting as the announcement was delayed by more than ten minutes.

Mr Sunak revealed he had spoken to the King and requested the dissolution of Parliament.

The news comes as something of a surprise.

After Mr Sunak ruled out a General Election on the same day as local elections in May, most had been expecting an autumn election, with the PM sticking to his mantra that the General Election would take place ‘in the second half of the year’.

Rumours about an imminent announcement began this morning, however, amid some rare welcome news for Mr Sunak, as official figures showed inflation slowed to 2.3% in April, the lowest level since July 2021.

The rumour mill was stoked further as it emerged Defence Secretary Grant Shapps delayed a trip to the Baltic states by a few hours and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron cut short a visit to Albania so they could attend a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Downing Street did nothing to quell the speculation or some claims that Mr Sunak could instead announce a reshuffle of his top team, with questions over Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s political fate.