Rishi Sunak appears to rule out spring UK election

LONDON — Rishi Sunak said his “working assumption” is that he won’t call a U.K. general election until the second half of 2024.

In his clearest hint yet at timing for the poll, the British prime minister told broadcaster ITV: “My working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year.”

Sunak, whose party is trailing in the polls, must call an election by 2025 under U.K. rules. But within those limits, the timing is in his gift.

His comments — which leave him wiggle room to adjust that plan — come amid pressure from the opposition parties to call an election in the spring.

Speculation has long swirled in Westminster about the timing of the vote. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced recently that the spring budget will take place earlier than usual on March 6. Cuts to the national insurance tax are also being rolled out this month in a move seen as a pre-election gambit.

Local elections are due to take place in May. 

Sunak’s hint about timing came as U.K. opposition leader Keir Starmer – who looks on course for Downing Street on current polling — insisted his party is up for the fight.

“We don’t just expect an election on the economy, we want an election on the economy, we’re ready for that fight, ready to close the book on their trickle-down nonsense, once and for all,” he said in a new year speech in Bristol.