When is the next UK general election?

Standing in the pouring rain outside No. 10 on Wednesday afternoon, Rishi Sunak finally answered the question that analysts and politicos have been pondering for months: when will the UK go to the polls? 

With inflation falling and the economic landscape looking "a little brighter" – news that "can be chalked up as a success" for the Conservatives, said the BBC’s political editor, Chris Mason – the prime minister may have come to agree with those who have been "pushing" for an early election. And with those who have been warning that "things might not improve much" in the coming months. 

"And so the campaign begins," said Mason. Voters will head to the polls on 4 July to cast their votes in an election that promises an outcome that will be "quite something, whatever happens". 

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What had Sunak said about an election? 

Speculation had been "rife" this year about when Sunak would call the next general election, said the i news site. The prime minister faced "mounting pressure" in March to name a date, after "bottling calling one on the same day as the local elections in May", said the Mirror.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had fuelled speculation of an autumn election when he mentioned the possibility of it being in October while discussing plans for the government's next spending review, said the BBC.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, Sunak "repeated his insistence" that the election would take place in the "second half of this year" as "mounting speculation" that he had "his eye on a summer polling day" spread through Westminster, said The Independent. 

The Whitehall "rumour mill" went "into overdrive" following the publication of the official figures showing inflation was 2.3% in April, some "rare welcome news" for the PM. "Downing Street did nothing to quell the speculation", with Sunak's press secretary saying she could not "rule anything in or out" when pressed by reporters. 

How is the next general election date chosen? 

According to the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act, Parliament must be dissolved no longer than exactly five years from the day on which it first met. The current Parliament would have been dissolved at the very latest on 17 December this year, had Sunak not already called an election before then.  

From 2011, the House of Commons had control over when an election would take place, but this was changed after the 2019 election, when power to call elections at a time of their choosing was restored to the prime minister.   

Will the date have much impact on the election result? 

"Why now?" many are asking. "Why not," said Politico. With "some signs of light at the end of the economic tunnel", alongside the passing of Sunak's "long-awaited" Rwanda immigration scheme and "some sunnier weather", the PM is likely to have felt that waiting any longer would mean "things could only get worse". 

Still, the 4 July news came as a "shock", with much of the country assuming the PM "would hang on until the fall", said Politico, so that, if he were to lose, he would still have "the comfort" of "going down in the history books as having racked up a respectable two years in No. 10". 

Sunak had concluded that there was "little evidence" to suggest an election later in the year would boost the Tories' ratings in the polls, said The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls. "As John Major found in 1997, economic recoveries don't always translate into political ones." 

The July date may suit Sunak, but it might not help his bid to win over voters. "The timing is not ideal" for people in some parts of the country, said The Guardian's Whitehall editor Rowena Mason. School holidays will already be under way in Scotland and Northern Ireland, meaning many voters may be away from home on 4 July. Scotland's First Minister John Swinney described the choice of date as disrespectful. 

The PM is facing criticism about how the election – the first to have been held in July since 1945 – may impact voter turnout, said ITV. Thousands of people will be attending the tennis at Wimbledon, which runs from 1 to 14 July, and the date will also clash with the Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany. The first quarter-final matches are due to be played the day after the election.