Watch live outside Downing Street as Sunak set to make general election announcement

Watch live from Downing Street on Wednesday 22 May amid rumours of a possible general election announcement.

Rishi Sunak has been urged to “get on with it” and call a vote as he fuelled speculation that he could have his eye on a summer polling day.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, the Conservative Party leader refused to rule out a summer election as he repeated his mantra that it will happen in the second half of the year – which could be as early as July.

Rumours about an imminent announcement swirled amid some rare welcome news for Mr Sunak, as official figures showed inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent in April, the lowest level since July 2021.

The rumour mill was stoked further as it emerged defence secretary Grant Shapps delayed a trip to the Baltic states by a few hours and foreign secretary David Cameron cut short a visit to Albania so they could attend a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Downing Street did nothing to quell the speculation or some claims that Mr Sunak could instead announce a reshuffle of his top team, with questions over chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s political fate.

The cabinet meeting is due to take place at around 4pm.