Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that there will not be a general election on May 2, bringing an end to months of speculation.
Sunak had said in January that his "working assumption" was that a general election would take place in the latter stages of 2024, and in an interview with ITV West Country this evening, the PM confirmed Britons would have to wait to go to the polls.
Sunak's announcement rules out the chances of national and local elections happening on the same day - but means voters could have to hold out until January 2025, the latest a General Election could theoretically take place.
The Prime Minister said: "In several weeks' time, we've got elections for Police and Crime Commissioners, for local councils, for mayors across the country - they're important elections.
Rishi Sunak has confirmed there will not be a General Election this May
PA"That's what I'm focussed on - there won't be a General Election on that day, but when there is a General Election, what matters is the choice."
Despite mounting pressure on Sunak to call an election sooner rather than later, reports suggest the big day may come in October.
But polling is not pretty for Sunak's Conservatives - the latest statistics from YouGov suggest his party is staring down the barrel of a blowout, with just 20 per cent of Britons willing to give the Tories their vote.
Their figures lie in stark contrast to Labour's, which show 44 per cent of voters would cast their ballots for the current opposition.
LATEST ELECTION NEWS:
- Holly Valance: I’m voting Reform UK at the general election and I want Nigel Farage to lead the party
- It's hard to take George Galloway's general election plans seriously, says Nigel Nelson
- Ann Widdecombe claims ‘Tories have given up’ on General Election after Rochdale candidate took holiday while campaigning
Labour has blamed MPs standing down in the next election on a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister
PAThe Conservatives will also have to contend with the threat of Reform, who are polling at just six percentage points behind them.
But even if they beat the odds to stay in government, a General Election will herald a slew of new faces in Parliament, with a number of big-name MPs having already announced they will not stand - including Theresa May, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock and Ben Wallace.
Theresa May's departure was the 63rd by a Tory MP, and has contributed to a list of departures Labour has blamed on a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak, but Tory minister Gareth Davies called their decisions “reasonable”, saying “this is what happens when you approach a new election”.
As well as resignations, the Conservatives are also having to deal with defections like Lee Anderson's - which one Tory insider said was "a big problem".
The source said many people are "more loyal to the MP than they are to the party" - a trend which may be dash Tory hopes across the UK should any more of their MPs defect.
Despite a Reform insider playing down the prospect of any MPs following Anderson, his defection yielded 2,000 new memberships for the fledgling party.
And cloudy Conservative prospects have sent rumours flying of as many as nine other MPs considering a defection.
Despite the Reform insider saying it would take more 'boat-rocking' to send more MPs crossing the floor, they agreed the "political landscape" has changed entirely since Anderson's defection.
