Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the election will take place on 4 July, stating that the king has granted the dissolution of parliament. The royal family will be scaling back engagements during the election campaign, with D-Day engagements still going ahead. Sunak’s speech, which was met with mixed reviews, highlighted government achievements such as tackling inflation, controlling debt, and increasing the state pension. He also criticized Keir Starmer, questioning his trustworthiness and ability to lead the country. Sunak emphasized the importance of making the right decisions for a better future, despite being drenched in the rain and almost drowned out by loud music playing in Whitehall.
General election 2024: Rishi Sunak calls vote for 4 July – UK politics live | General election 2024
Sunak confirms election to take place on 4 July
Sunak says the king has granted the dissolution of parliament, and the election will be on 4 July.
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The royal family is scaling back engagements while the election campaign is on. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said:
Following the prime minister’s statement this afternoon calling a general election, the royal family will – in accordance with normal procedure – postpone engagements that may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign. Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result.
But D-Day engagements are going ahead, the palace says.
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Key election-related dates, up to state opening of new parliament on Wednesday 17 July
Here are the full election-related dates announced by No 10.
Friday 24 May – Parliament prorogued
Thursday 30 May – Parliament dissolved
Thursday 4 July – General election
Tuesday 9 July – New parliament meets for election of speaker and swearing-in of MPs
Wednesday 17 July – State opening of parliament, with king’s speech
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Here are a selection of pictures from outside Downing Street as Rishi Sunak called a general election for 4 July.
Rishi Sunak giving his speech in Downing Street. Photograph: Lucy North/PARishi Sunak giving his speech. Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersSunak going back into No 10 after the election.
Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersShare
Updated at 18.02 BST
Sunak’s speech – snap verdict
“Things can only get wetter.” If Rishi Sunak was setting out to make people feel sorry for him, he succeeded brilliantly. Otherwise, it was hard to find any redeeming features in that speech.
First of all, the optics. Sunak got drenched, and he looked miserable. If you believe in the weather gods, they clearly vote Labour. And whoever was playing ‘Things can only get better’ on a loudspeaker in Whitehall almost drowned him out completely (drowned being the operative word today). The Tory legislation that was supposed to ban noisy protests clearly did not work as well as Priti Patel intended.
On the announcement, we got the election date, but Sunak made no attempt to explain why he is calling it for 4 July, when until very recently he had been planning for an autumn election. There was no real need for an explanation, but it would have been nice to have one. Some commentators are describing this a “gamble”. But that implies he is expecting a positive outcome. This feels more like a capitulation, a recognition that all of his other options are worse.
Sunak was at his most popular when he was announcing the furlough scheme as chancellor, and he made this the centre of his pitch to the electorate. But he was on much weaker ground when talking about more recent policies. “We are stopping the boats with our Rwanda partnership, and we will ensure the next generation grows up smoke free,” he said. But the boats aren’t stopping, and the legislation to create a smoke-free generation almost certainly won’t become law, because the election is happening now.
On Labour, he said Keir Starmer could not be trusted, and that Labour does not have a plan. But Labour does have a plan, as the Tories admitted last week when they published a 20-page document costing it. And all the polling evidence suggests that people aren’t scared of Starmer, and that they trust him more than Sunak.
“I have never and will never leave the people of this country to face the darkest of days alone,” Sunak said at one point. The problem is, it seems that voters want Sunak to leave them alone, and to take his party off to oppositon. He has just six weeks to turn that around.
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Keir Starmer has released a video with his own message. He sums up what he is offering with one word: “Change.”
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Sunak says voters don’t know what they’re getting with Starmer because he doesn’t keep promises
Sunak says he is guided by what is right, not by what is easy.
He goes on:
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.
On the 5th of July, either Keir Starmer or I will be prime minister. He has shown time and time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power.
If he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become leader leader once he got the job, how can you know that he won’t do exactly the same thing if he were to become prime minister?
If you don’t have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you don’t have the courage to tell people what you want to do, and if you don’t have a plan, how can you possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this most uncertain of times?
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Updated at 17.28 BST
Sunak is now talking about government achievements.
We’ve tackled inflation, controlled debt, cut workers’ taxes, and increased the state pension by £900.
We’ve reduced taxes on investment and seized the opportunities of Brexit to make this the best country in the world to grow a business, put record amounts of funding into our NHS and ensured it is now training the doctors and nurses it needs in the decades to come.
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Sunak says the election will be a choose – who will take the right decisions to give people a better future.
(Sunak is getting drenched in the rain.)
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Sunak is almost being drowned out by someone playing ‘Things can only get better” very, very loudly in Whitehall.
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Sunak confirms election to take place on 4 July
Sunak says the king has granted the dissolution of parliament, and the election will be on 4 July.
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Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/may/22/uk-general-election-july-2024-sunak-starmer-senior-sources-say-uk-politics-live-news