London (CNN) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a early general elections for July 4 in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening, as his Conservative party faces an uphill battle to extend his 14 years in power.
Sunak told Downing Street that he had informed King Charles III of the rare summer poll, kicking off a six-week campaign that is almost universally expected to end with the fall of his conservative government.
Drenched by a downpour as he spoke, Sunak said: “The time has come for Britain to choose its future. He also attacked his opponents, saying that voting for Labor would risk Britain going back to square one. But he admitted: I cannot and will not pretend that we did everything right.
Sunak was due to hold a vote by January 2025 and had long resisted calls to clarify his plans. But a drop in inflation rates, announced earlier on Wednesday, provided the backdrop to his announcement.
The move will be welcomed by the dynamic Labor Party, led by Keir Starmer, which is climbing in opinion polls and seeking to present itself as a reformed and moderate group ready to come to power.
Following the announcement, Buckingham Palace said the British royal family would postpone engagements that could distract or distract from the election campaign. The King and Queen's D-Day commemorative engagements in June are expected to go ahead as planned.
In his speech, Sunak sought to portray external factors such as Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine as the backdrop to Britain's economic struggles, saying the two factors combined represented the most difficult times since the Second World War.
But he battled heavy rain that soaked his suit in just minutes, and he was nearly drowned out by a loudspeaker outside the gates of Downing Street, through which a protester shouted D:Reams Things Can Only Get Better , the theme song to Labour's big election victory. in 1997.
Starmer was quick to respond to Sunaks' announcement. Speaking at an indoor press conference, the Opposition Leader said: This evening, the Prime Minister finally announced the next general election.
He presented voting as a chance to change your future, your community, your country for the better.
It will feel like a long campaign, I'm sure, but no matter what is said and done, this opportunity for change is what this election is about, he said.
Current polls are disastrous for Sunak; Labor begins the campaign about 20 points ahead on average, with the Conservatives often closer to third-party challengers such as the Reform and Liberal Democrats than to Labor.
When converted into a projection of seats in Parliament, these figures indicate either a comfortable victory for Labor or a potential electoral wipeout for the Conservatives.
Sunak hopes a shrewd campaign could bring a dramatic upset for Labor and extend a period of Tory rule that began in 2010 and has overseen economic austerity, Brexit, the Covid pandemic and a cost of living crisis .
He is the fifth Conservative leader to hold the post during this period, succeeding the ill-fated Liz Truss, whose disastrous tenure imploded just six weeks after it began and exacerbated the financial woes crippling the UK.
Sunak's party is likely to put its efforts against illegal immigration at the center of its campaign; A recent decision to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda finally became law last month, and the first flights could potentially depart during the campaign.
But Labor will seek to highlight the government's efforts to curb soaring prices, the state of Britain's overburdened health service and the sordid scandals which have tarnished the Conservatives' reputation with large parts of the public. British electorate.
Small parties could disrupt the intentions of the two dominant groups, even if it is practically impossible for them to renew a government. The new anti-immigration Reform Party and centrist Liberal Democrats will seek to challenge Sunak in some of his party's historic strongholds, complicating his efforts to retain power.
North of the border, the pro-independence Scottish National Party hopes to resist a Labor challenge and regain its dominance over Scottish politics despite a difficult time and the recent rise of its third leader in 15 months.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives won a large majority in the last UK-wide vote in December 2019, pledging to press ahead with Britain's exit from the European Union , a question that has preoccupied the country's politics for more than three years.
But Johnson's tenure collapsed after a series of scandals, paving the way for Sunak, then finance minister, to become one of the favorites to lead the country.
Reinforcing the feeling that the Conservatives are nearing the end of their mandate, dozens of Tory MPs, including former ministers and ex-Prime Minister Theresa May, have announced they will not stand in the election.
But recent election and referendum campaigns have proven volatile, and the Conservatives, always publicly optimistic, have highlighted mixed levels of enthusiasm for Labor's offer.
Voting will take place on Thursday July 4 in all of the UK's 650 parliamentary constituencies, with counting taking place overnight, with the two main parties seeking to pass the 326 mark needed to secure a majority.
A government will be formed as soon as this step is reached, and will immediately take charge, pending the symbolic approval of King Charles III.
This story has been updated.
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