Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a General Election today (May 22), with a vote confirmed for July 4. The election is due to take place to elect a political party to power in just six weeks time, with campaigns set to commence imminently, with Parliament set to be dissolved on May 30.
The announcement follows a wave of speculation that was built going into this afternoon’s Cabinet Meeting, with a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refusing to rule out the possibility of an announcement after the meeting.
In his announcement outside Number 10 this evening, the Prime Minister said: “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.
“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 the fourth of July.
“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.”
In the run-up to this fairly unexpected summer election, all eyes will now be on Conservative Party leader (and incumbent Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer as their campaigns for the election in just six weeks commence.
This General Election is the first since December 2019, when the Conservatives gained a majority vote under Boris Johnson at the expense of Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn at the time. Labour will be hoping to win their first election since they lost their majority in 2010, when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government was formed, defeating Labour and then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Head to GOV.UK to find out more about voting in your constituency, and to register to vote ahead of the next UK General Election on July 4.