Rishi Sunak refuses to rule out July election five times in interview
Rishi Sunak repeated that his ‘working assumption is an election in the second half of the year’ – Sky News
Rishi Sunak repeatedly refused to rule out a general election taking place in July.
The Prime Minister has previously said that his “working assumption” is that the poll would take place in the second half of this year. But he declined to confirm or deny that an election could take place in three months’ time.
Mr Sunak was asked on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips whether the latter half of 2024 for a general election could mean July. He said: “I’m not going to say anything more than I’ve already said, I’ve been very clear about that.”
Pressed repeatedly whether he was ruling out July, he said: “I’m not going to do that. You’re going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what I say. I’m going to always try and say the same thing. You should just listen to what I said, the same thing I’ve said all year.”
Mr Sunak added: “The point is… there’s a choice when it comes to the general election. And look, over the past week or so… the country can have a very clear sense of what that difference is going to look like.”
It comes ahead of the local elections across the country on May 9, and if the Conservatives were to return a disastrous set of results, Mr Sunak’s hand could be forced into an earlier general election date. The Prime Minister could be faced with a leadership challenge, or be persuaded that a polling day sooner rather than later could be better than struggling on with a divided Tory Party.
But many Westminster analysts see October or November as the most likely period for an election – with the latest possible date it could take place being Jan 28 next year.
Meanwhile, Chris Philp, the policing minister, told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday that an election is “most likely in the autumn”.
He said: “I think as we get closer to an election, most likely in the autumn, it becomes more of a choice rather than a referendum on do you feel grumpy with the Government, and clearly at the moment people do feel grumpy with the Government.
“But as we get closer to an election, it’s not so much a referendum on grumpiness. It becomes actually a choice: Who do you want to run the country?”
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