UK PM Rishi Sunak calls surprise July election as his party seeks to defy dire polls

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4 in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening, as his Conservative Party faces an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power.Sunak said outside Downing Street that he had informed King Charles III of the rare summer poll, firing the starting gun on a six-week campaign that is almost universally expected to conclude in the demise of his Conservative government.

Soaked by a downpour as he spoke, Sunak said: “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.” He also attacked his opponents, saying that by voting for the Labour Party, Britain would “risk going back to square one.” But he admitted: “I cannot and will not claim that we have got everything right.”

Sunak was required to hold a vote by January 2025, and had long resisted calls to be specific about his plans. But a fall in inflation rates, announced earlier Wednesday, provided the backdrop for his announcement.The move will be welcomed by the buoyant Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, which is soaring in the opinion polls and has sought to present itself as a reformed and moderate group that is ready for power.

In the wake of the announcement, Buckingham Palace said the British royal family would postpone engagements “which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign.” The King and Queen’s D-Day memorial engagements in June are expected to go ahead as scheduled.In his speech, Sunak sought to paint external factors such as Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine as the context to Britain’s economic struggles, saying the two factors combined represented “the most challenging times since the Second World War.”

But he battled heavy rain that soaked his suit in just minutes, and he was almost drowned out by a loudspeaker outside the Downing Street gates, through which a protester blared D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better,” the theme song of Labour’s big election win in 1997.

Starmer was quick to respond to Sunak’s announcement. Speaking at an indoor news conference, the opposition leader said: “Tonight the prime minister has finally announced the next general election.”

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