Why did Sunak announce the general election so abruptly on Wednesday when the forecast was for the 2nd half of the year? I smell a rat, do you?

UK General Elections 2024: United Kingdom's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a snap general election on July 4. In a statement from Downing Street on May 22, Sunak said he spoke to King Charles earlier that day to request the dissolution of Parliament for a general election. “The king has granted this request and the general elections will be held on July 4," Sunak announced.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was passed in 2011 to have a stable government in the UK. However, the Act was repealed on 24 March 2022 paving the way for mid-term elections if required. Though the UK parliament already decided to hold early elections on two occasions. On 19 April 2017, the UK parliament voted 522 to 13 in favour of an early general election. The election took place on Thursday 8 June 2017. Again on 31st October 2019, Parliament passed legislation to hold a parliamentary general election on 12 December 2019. UK politics has been topsy-turvy during the last five years and a fresh election was due in the 2nd half of this year.

The Conservatives, that Sunak represents have been in power for the last 14 years. It is reported that the chances of the Conservative Party losing this election look high. The opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer is ahead in the opinion polls. Sunak has been facing a tough time. Since took over the PM's post less than two years back. In these two years, he has tried to position himself as a reformer and a steady leader, however failed. Unfortunately for him, the Ukraine war and now the Israel war have put the UK economy in a tight spot.

The UK has been battling tough economic conditions. Britain has been facing slow growth for many years, however, the spike in inflation made people feel the pinch very hard. Although the Sunak government has been able to halve inflation from its peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, the economy entered a technical recession in late 2023, raising doubts about a gloomy economic outlook. With inflation dropping to the current 2.3 percent possibly Sunak feels it to be the best time to hold the election. With the quickly changing global economic scenario, it may not be possible to hold inflation low for long. Possibly by October, the economic situation may not be so favorable.

Secondly, the US presidential election is due on 4th November 2024. It would not be a great idea to push the UK election along with the US election or to hold it after the US election. Which could have been one of the considerations. Otherwise, Sunak could have pushed it to the end of December or even up to January 2025. I do not think Sunak saw any benefit in holding it late. Also, he may have wanted to catch the opposition a little unprepared with the short notice poll date. But no chance the British electorate as well as the Labour Party seems prepared.