Press
A new parliament is due to be elected in Great Britain in July. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced this on Wednesday despite poor polls.
London – It has long been a mystery as to when the British will be allowed to elect a new parliament this year. Now a decision has been made. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday evening that the election will be held on July 4. The BBC, the Guardian and the television channels ITV and Sky News had previously reported.
Sunak makes decision – elections in Great Britain already in July
Sunak had always indicated that he wanted to hold the election in the second half of the year. But his party’s poor result in the local elections in early May increased the pressure on the head of government. The opposition Labour Party is currently clearly in the lead in polls.
Unlike in Germany, in the United Kingdom the Prime Minister has a generous amount of time to decide on the election date. He must give notice at least 25 working days in advance. The opposition has been urging Sunak for months to finally set an election date. They accused him of delaying the election date as long as possible in view of the poor poll ratings.
Sunak’s Conservatives in the poll basement – Labour Party favourite in parliamentary elections
Despite several announcements and recently improved economic data, Sunak’s Conservatives have so far failed to close the gap to Labour. Most recently, they lost hundreds of seats and an important mayoral post in local elections in England, as well as a constituency in north-west England in a parliamentary by-election. The right-wing populist party Reform UK, the former Brexit party, is also putting the Tories under increasing pressure.(fd/dpa)
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