United Kingdom. “A huge gamble”: Rishi Sunak calls legislative elections from July 4
“I am told that a large counting center has been reserved for the night of July 4 or 5.” The British political-media microcosm suddenly came into turmoil on Wednesday May 22. As evidenced by this message posted by journalist Lewis Goodall on the social network X.
Rumors swirled all day. At the center of attention, a question: Rishi Sunak is he preparing to call elections at the beginning of the summer? “The question resonated throughout Westminster”, enthuses New Statesman.
In the midst of this hubbub, it was paradoxically an unusual silence that fed the rumor mill. “I’m not the type to get excited about that sort of thing.”, wrote political journalist Chris Mason in the afternoon. After all, the Prime Minister must schedule legislative elections before mid-January 2025. Rather in the fall? Or this winter? Speculation around the date has regularly made headlines in the press in recent months… before being quickly brushed aside by those close to the conservative Prime Minister.
“But this time it seems different, assured Mason, a seasoned (and well-informed) reporter for the BBC. I’m looking for a clear answer, but no one is giving me one. Our sources remain silent.”
