Rishi Sunak has called a general election for 4 July, saying “now is the moment for Britain to choose its future”.

In a statement outside Downing Street delivered in the pouring rain, the prime minister said he had met with the King to request the dissolution of parliament.

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“The King has granted this request and we will have a general election on the 4th of July”, Mr Sunak said.

The surprise move is a huge electoral gamble given Labour are ahead by about 20 points in the polls.

It comes after official figures showed inflation had come down to 2.3% in April.

Mr Sunak said this is “proof that the plan and priorities I set out are working”.

However, he said “this hard earned economic stability was only ever meant to be the beginning”.

In a rallying cry to the nation he said: “The question now is how and who do you trust to turn that foundation into a secure future for you, your family and our country?

“Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future and 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.”

Mr Sunak had to contend with New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better being played from beyond the gates to Downing Street as he delivered his speech.

In a sign the election will be fought on the economy, the prime minister opened his remarks by harking back to his days as chancellor during the pandemic, saying he served the country while “the future hung in the balance”.

He said that economic stability is “the bedrock of any future success” and accused Labour of having no plan.

He finished his statement with an attack on his rival for Number 10, Sir Keir Starmer, saying 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 Labour 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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Election ‘opportunity for change’

Delivering his own televised statement from central London, Sir Keir said the election is an “opportunity for change” as he tore into the Tories’ record in government.

He pointed to sewage in rivers, people “waiting on trolleys in A&E”, crime going “virtually unpunished” and mortgages and food prices “through the roof”.

“On 4 July you have a choice, and together we can stop the chaos, we can turn the page, we can start to rebuild Britain and change our country,” he said.

If Sir Keir wins the election, it will end 14 years of Conservative governments under five prime ministers.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, who is also hoping to make gains the the rural Tory heartlands, said the election is “a chance to kick Rishi Sunak’s appalling Conservative government out of office and deliver the change the public is crying out for”.

What are the rules for calling an election?

Mr Sunak has been saying for months the vote would happen in the “second half of the year” but had refused to set a date.

The assumption was that he would wait until the autumn to give him more time to deliver on his pledges.

However, speculation he could go to the country earlier mounted in Westminster on Wednesday as Cabinet ministers were summoned for an unusually timed meeting, with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron cutting short trips abroad to attend.

As general elections have to be held every five years, the final day a vote could have taken place was 28 January 2025.

However, the Conservatives in 2019 restored the prime minister’s power to call an election at a time of their choosing within that five years.

The last general election was held in 2019, when Boris Johnson won the Conservatives a landslide over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Since then, there have been two more prime ministers, Liz Truss and Mr Sunak, and the Conservatives’ 80-seat majority has been reduced by a series of by-election losses while their popularity among voters has plummeted.

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Rishi Sunak has called a general election for this summer.

The prime minister has been saying for months he would call a vote for the “second half of the year”, and it will now be held on Thursday, 4 July.

Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, Mr Sunak had until 17 December this year to call an election – as votes must be held no more than five years apart.

Sky News looks at what happens now.

General election latest: Rishi Sunak to call election for 4 July

Requesting permission to dissolve parliament

The prime minister has already requested permission from the King to hold a general election, as the power to dissolve parliament – end the session – legally lies with him.

Parliament must be “dissolved” for an election to officially take place. Polling day then takes place 25 working days after that date.

Mr Sunak said in a speech outside Downing Street on Wednesday that the King had granted his request to dissolve parliament.

As a result, parliament will be prorogued on Friday, 24 May, while dissolution will take place on Thursday, 30 May.

What happens in parliament after an election is called?

There is usually a period of several days, known as “wash-up”, between an election being called and the dissolution of parliament.

During “wash-up”, parliament will continue as normal, but any parliamentary business not completed by the end of that time will not enter into law and cannot be continued into the next parliament.

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This normally leads to a rush to pass legislation through parliament to get it onto the statute book, which often means parties having to work together to agree on which bills they will support.

The longest “wash-up” period since 1992 was in 2017 when parliament sat for a further seven days after the election was called, according to Institute for Government (IfG) analysis.

What happens after parliament is dissolved?

Once parliament is dissolved, there are no longer any MPs as every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant.

House of Lords members retain their positions, but no more business happens until the next parliament begins.

Government ministers remain in post until a new government is formed.

However, government activity is restricted during the campaign period to ensure public money is not used to support the campaign of the party in power and to maintain civil service impartiality.

Restrictions normally begin when parliament has been dissolved, however, they can start before this, as they did in 2017.

The campaign

Campaigning never stops for political parties, but it will ramp up after an election is announced.

Parties, their candidates, and supporters, will promote their policies during the campaign period by publishing informative material, knocking on doors to talk to people, writing newspaper articles, and supporters putting posters in their windows or placards in their front gardens.

There is no set time for when manifestos explaining the parties’ pledges have to be launched, but they generally happen within a few days of each other.

Since 1997, Labour and Conservative manifestos have been launched between 18 and 29 days before the election, the IfG found.

Televised debates between party leaders or other politicians became a feature of campaigns in 2010.

Their timing and format are negotiated between political parties and broadcasters, but there is no obligation for any of them to take part.

Polling day

Registered voters can submit postal votes before the day, but most people go to polling stations, which are open from 7am until 10pm.

This will be the first general election where photographic ID will be required to vote.

When voting closes, an exit poll is announced following a survey of voters taken from about 150 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales.

What happens after the election?

If the current government retains a majority in the new Parliament after an election, it will continue in office and resume normal business.

If the election results in a clear majority for a different party, the incumbent prime minister and government will immediately resign, and the King will invite the leader of the party that has won the election to form a government.

It becomes slightly more complicated if the result is a hung parliament.

The current government remains in office unless and until the prime minister tenders his and the government’s resignation to the King.

The government is entitled to await the meeting of the new parliament to see if it can command the
confidence of the House of Commons or to resign if it becomes clear that it is unlikely to command that confidence.

They could also be forced to resign if they lose a vote of no confidence, at which point, the person who appears to be most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons will be asked by the Monarch to form a government.

In terms of dates, the new Parliament will be summoned to meet on Tuesday, 9 July, when the first business will be the election of the speaker and the swearing-in of members.

The state opening of Parliament will be on Wednesday, 17 July.

A person has died in a mudslide in North Yorkshire, police have said.

Police said they were responding to the mudslide, which happened at 1.15pm in Carlton-in-Cleveland.

The force said: “We can confirm that one person has sadly died as a result of the incident. Our thoughts are with their family and friends during this difficult time.”

It comes as a yellow warning for rain was issued covering the north of England, the Midlands and north and central Wales until 6am on Thursday.

“It is going to be a pretty wet picture as we go through the rest of the week for many places,” Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said.

Many places could see 30-40mm of rain, while a few areas may receive 60-80mm as heavy downpours move northwards throughout Wednesday.

There is even a small chance a few upland areas could see up to 150mm, according to the forecaster.

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