Rishi Sunak announces UK general election for Thursday 4 July

LONDON, England 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a summer UK general election to take place on Thursday 4 July.

He had been widely expected to wait until the autumn before triggering the poll, which does not legally have to be held until January 2025.

But in a surprise move, he announced the first July election since 1945.

It will see the Conservatives try to win a fifth consecutive term in office, taking on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party, which is ahead in opinion polls.

Parliament will be suspended on Friday, before being formally shut down on Thursday next week, in advance of the official five-week election campaign.

Mr Sunak had been expected to call the poll in October or November, to give his party a better chance of closing its polling gap with Labour.

His announcement, following hours of speculation in Westminster, came after it was confirmed inflation in the year to April fell to 2.3%, the lowest annual figure in almost three years.

In a sign he was seeking to capitalise on the figures to kick-start his election campaign, he added the stats were "proof that the plan and priorities I set out are working".

But his statement announcing the election in Downing Street did not go entirely to plan, as he battled worsening rain and activists blasting out New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better over a loudspeaker.