Whitehall officials in secret talks for snap election in May despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously alluding to calling poll in 'the second half of the year'

Meetings are starting to be held to make contingency arrangements for May 2

Whitehall is making secret preparations for a snap General Election, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Although Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his ‘working assumption’ is that he will call the poll in the second half of the year, he has not actually ruled out a spring election.

Meetings are now starting to be held in Government offices to make contingency arrangements for May 2.

These have included making transitional security plans for MPs when Parliament is dissolved and to prepare for a possible influx of new MPs on the week starting May 6.

Most officials are still working on the assumption that Mr Sunak will call an election for October or November after the Tory conference and a tax-cutting autumn Budget – a time when the ‘feel-good’ factor of lower inflation and interest rates should finally start to be felt by voters.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his ‘working assumption’ is that he will call the poll in the second half of the yea

Sir Keir Starmer’s party is readying itself for the possibility of an early poll

The main building of the Cabinet Office at Whitehall road, City of Westminster, Central London

Mr Sunak also needs more time to try to deliver on his pledges, including lower inflation, cutting NHS waiting lists, reducing debt and stopping the small boats.

But The Mail on Sunday understands that officials are now drawing up a contingency timetable for the PM to call the election in mid-March. Parliament would be dissolved a few days after the declaration, with polling day falling 25 working days after dissolution in accordance with General Election rules.

Council and mayoral elections are also scheduled on May 2.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party is readying itself for the possibility of an early poll, too, ensuring it is not wrong-footed if the Prime Minister goes to the country in the spring.

Some Tory MPs have also privately pressed for a spring election on the grounds that the polls are not shifting in the party’s favour, and that their situation could even deteriorate further.

The Institute for Government says a May 2 poll would avoid the risk that ‘a heavy defeat in the local elections could increase pressure on the Prime Minister – including from within his party – and make it difficult to regain momentum’.

Mr Sunak declared his ‘working assumption’ on the timing in a bid to head off a planned Labour attempt to label him a ‘bottler’ if he waited until the autumn.

By law, the last possible date for the election is January 28, 2025.