British PM Rishi Sunak Officially Rules Out General Elections On May 2

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated that scheduled general elections will not happen on May 2 signalling that it might take place later in the year. Speaking to ITV, he confirmed the news. “In several weeks on May 2, we will have elections on local issues, police and crime commissioners, mayors. There won’t be a general election on that day.”         

British prime ministers do have the right to call the general election and Sunak does not have to call a general election till January 2025, which is when his government’s term ends. While Sunak had stated earlier that there would be polls later in the year rumours had arisen of snap polls. A Bloomberg report stated that such speculation had arisen after rumours by ministers of his own party looking to oust him.

Conservatives and Sunak are both deeply unpopular with the public at present. A Guardian poll found that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer 46% with Rishi Sunak 23.6%. Coming to Parliament, the polls showed that were elections to be held today Labour would win 455 seats, the Conservatives 113, and the Liberal Democrats 40. The majority margin is 326 in the 650-seat Parliament.

Sunak’s decision has been especially unpopular with the Opposition and especially Starmer. In an interview with Sky, the Labour leader had reacted to Sunak’s hint that elections would be delayed saying that “this has serious implications for the country because he’s basically saying he’s going to be squatting for months and months in Downing Street, dithering and delaying.”

In British parliamentary custom, if Sunak chooses to call elections, he has to inform King Charles who would formally order Parliament to be closed.  The election would then have to take place 25 working days later.

So, if Sunak had chosen May 2 as the election date, he would have had to ask the King to shut Parliament by March 26. Given the polls and the fact that the newly formed right-wing Reform UK party is likely to eat into Conservative votes it was unlikely a May 2 election was going to happen. But Sunak is likely to face the same problems down the road.