British cabinet ministers have begun arriving at Downing Street amid mounting speculation that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may call a general election.
The media presence in Downing Street has built up throughout this afternoon as rumours about an imminent announcement swirled on a rainy day in Westminster.
Among those there were Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who delayed a trip to the Baltic States, and Northern Irish Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.
Mr Sunak was earlier urged to “get on with it” and call a general election 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 vote 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% in April, the lowest level since July 2021.
The rumour mill was stoked further as it emerged Mr 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 the Cabinet meeting.
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.
Mr Sunak, when challenged over whether he was intending to fire the starting gun on an election campaign, told the Commons: “There is, Mr Speaker – spoiler alert – there is going to be a general election in the second half of this year.
“At that moment, the British people will in fact see the truth about the honourable gentleman opposite me (Labour leader Keir Starmer), because that will be the choice at the next election, Mr Speaker – a party that is not able to say to the country what they would do, a party that would put at risk our hard-earned economic stability, or the Conservatives that are delivering a secure future for our United Kingdom.”
Labour urged Mr Sunak to “get on with it” and trigger a general election which the public are “crying out for”.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary told reporters in Westminster she was “not going to rule anything in or out” when pressed on whether he could call a snap election for July.
She declined to say when the second half of 2024 begins in Mr Sunak’s view when it was put to her that it could include July, noting it “is quite a wide range”.
