RISHI Sunak has today all-but ruled out holding a General Election in May – saying he will likely go to the country in the “second half of the year”.
It paves the way for an autumn battle for No10 following fevered speculation the PM would call an early ballot in the spring.
Speaking to Red Wall voters he said: “So, my working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year and in the meantime I’ve got lots that I want to get on with.”
The announcement completely wrongfooted Sir Keir Starmer who had just finished making his New Year’s speech in Bristol.
Mr Sunak made the surprise comments on a visit to the East Midlands where he hit the campaign stump for the first time in 2024.
He said: “I know that 2024 is going to be a better year. But I want to make sure that you believe that 2024 is going to be a better year too.
“The one reason I’m confident about that, is that we’re making progress.”
Citing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the Covid hangover, he admitted “lots was tricky” in 2023 which “wasn’t the easiest year for our country”.
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Mr Sunak had already confirmed an election will be held this year, after ruling out the latest possible date of January 2025.
His move today seeks to neutralise likely future Labour attacks that Mr Sunak had bottled a spring election.
Former Labour PM Gordon Brown suffered a fatal blow in 2007 when he allowed election rumours to take off – before chickening out.
Today’s announcement will likely sap attention from Sir Keir’s major New Year’s speech where he laid out his election stall to voters.
The Labour leader responded: “The Prime Minister has hinted without setting a date that it might be later this year.
“Why can’t he set a date? Him squatting in Downing Street for months on end, dithering and delaying while the country wants change.”
With Mr Sunak unlikely to hold a summer election – when small boat crossings spike and many Brits go abroad – the smart money is now on autumn.
He spoke on the one-year anniversary of launching his five overriding pledges to voters – of which he has claimed “great progress”.
His defiance comes as he faces criticism for so far only definitively meeting his first goal of halving inflation.
National debt rose slightly, while economic growth was modest and NHS waiting lists increased to 7.7million amid a backdrop of crippling strikes.
And while small boat crossings fell last year, there were still 29,437 Channel arrivals.
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Ahead of today’s commitment, two main theories had emerged, that he will either go early in spring or sit tight until the autumn.
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For spring, the logic was that by cutting his losses, Sunak would avoid a potentially bruising set of May local elections and allow an air of defeat to rumble on until the General.
Whereas those touting autumn said it would let the cost of living crisis ease off and hope something comes his way, while also notching up two years in No10 under his belt.
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Jack Elsom
