Speculation mounts around UK general election in May

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's refusal to rule out an early general election in response to a direct question on Thursday has added to the Opposition Labour Party speculation that the governing Conservatives may be planning to go to the electorate sooner rather than later in the year.

While Sunak has previously stated that his “working assumption” is that the general election will take place in the second half of 2024, Labour’s shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth had declared ahead of Wednesday’s Spring Budget that the party believes the “preferred choice” of the Tories is for polls in May.

Asked about the speculation during a BBC Radio 2 interview on Thursday, Sunak only laughed it off and failed to dismiss the theory.

“I’m not going to say anything extra about that. What I would say is what matters is the choice at that election, and the choice, especially after this Budget, is clear,” said Sunak.

“Our plans are working. Of course there’s more work to do, we are starting to deliver the change that people want to see and if we stick with that plan people can have the peace of mind that there is a brighter future for them and their families,” he said.

The response has led to only fanning UK media conjecture that the government may in fact be planning to hold a general election at the same time as local council and mayoral polls scheduled for May 2.

"I think it’s going to be May. And I think Rishi Sunak now needs to name the date because there’s so much uncertainty. And businesses, companies seeking to invest in the UK economy need certainty, which is why I’m challenging Rishi Sunak to offer that certainty and confirm a May election,” Ashworth told Times Radio earlier this week.

In fact, the senior Opposition MP went as far as to make a GBP 10 bet with a Sky News reporter, to be donated to charity, that the election would take place in May.

The repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2022 restored the ability of British prime ministers to set election dates. However, by law a general election has to take place at least every five years, making January 2025 the outermost deadline for Sunak to go to the ballot box.

However, the 43-year-old British Indian leader faces a tough political landscape as the Tories lag behind in most opinion polls in clear signs of anti-incumbency, with Labour holding a steady lead. There was a lot riding on Wednesday's Budget when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced some tax cuts. However, the reaction on all sides of the political spectrum is that the announcements are unlikely to have favourably moved the dial on the electoral fortunes of the Conservative Party.

If Sunak does in fact choose to call an election in May, he must make the announcement by the end of this month or early April to allow for a six-week election period and so-called “purdah” during which there are strict restrictions on any new government policy announcements. For a general election to coincide with the scheduled local and mayoral elections on May 2, Parliament would have to be dissolved on March 26 for polling day to be 25 working days after dissolution.