London, United Kingdom:
Britain is likely to go to the polls in the last six months of this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicated on Thursday, as speculation about the date of the election increases.
Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative party has been in power since 2010, has until the end of January 2025 to call a long-awaited general election.
He has already indicated that he will not leave it until the last minute to go to the country and try to secure his own mandate after becoming Tory leader in an internal party vote in October 2022.
“My working assumption is that we will have a general election in the second half of this year,” he said during a visit to Mansfield, central England.
The Tories, who have had five leaders and prime ministers in 14 years, are widely expected to lose the election and hand power to Keir Starmer's main opposition party, Labour.
The Conservatives' years in power were bookended by economic problems, first from the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis, and later from a cost-of-living crisis fueled by high inflation and energy prices.
Possible dates for the vote include May 2, which coincides with local elections, and shortly after the March 6 government budget, when the Tories are tipped to announce tax cuts to attract voters.
Asked whether he could rule out a May election, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak, who pledged to halve inflation from a record 11 percent, reiterated that he was looking for a vote later in 2024.
“I want to continue, manage the economy well and reduce taxes. But I also want to continue tackling illegal migration,” he said, referring to another important promise.
“So I still have a lot to do and I am determined to keep delivering for the British people.”
The last general election, won by then Tory leader Boris Johnson on the promise of getting Brexit done, took place in December 2019.
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