News | Politics Political junkies have a date marked on their calendars: March 26. A few bets hinge on what happens then. Rishi Sunak says he plans to call a General
election in the autumn - and the smart money reckons that means October or November. But what if he’s playing a big game of bluff and means to go sooner, to exploit a lack of readiness in
Labour - despite the appalling state of the polls for the Conservatives ? What if he decides that things can only get worse for the Tories the longer he waits, with another summer of Channel boats and possible economic deterioration ahead? For sure, it’s a lot of what ifs. And as a rule, politicians who are in a hole prefer to wait in the hope of some kind of spade showing up. Also, the Prime Minister says he isn’t a betting person, and an early election would represent a huge bet. That said, he did accept a £1,000 challenge from Piers Morgan that the first flights of migrants to Rwanda will take off before an election. The PM hopes that after months of legal and parliamentary deadlock, those flights will happen “in the spring”. That potentially sets the stage for an election campaign fought on who’s in charge of Britain’s borders, rather than a
referendum on 14 years of Tory rule and economic decline. Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth for one is convinced that Mr Sunak is bluffing when he says his “working assumption” points to an autumn election. The shadow Cabinet minister settled for a much more modest stake when he bet £10 with Sky News presenter Kay Burley that polling day will come in May. He’s not alone: money has also been changing hands quietly among some in Westminster. Gove urged to act over ‘damaging’ delay to rental reform No self-driving cars until 2030 if legislation delayed, automotive body warns Rantzen’s daughter urges Sunak to call for a vote on legalising assisted dying Make your next trip to the West End a celebration of
Women in culture There’s a convenient date already on the calendar: polling stations will be open across
England on May 2 for local elections, and to choose
police and crime commissioners in Wales . More than 2,500 council seats will be up for grabs across 107 local authorities, while some of the most high-profile politicians in the country are seeking another term as mayor, including Labour’s
Sadiq Khan in
London and the Conservatives’ Andy Street in the West Midlands. So what’s the significance of March 26? Under electoral law, Parliament has to be dissolved 25 working days before a General Election is held. So if it’s to happen on May 2, dissolution must take place no later than March 26. But actually, Parliament would need a few days’ notice of dissolution, to allow MPs and peers to decide what if any remaining pieces of non-controversial legislation should be approved. Also, it is now tradition for the House of Commons to hold a “valedictory debate” just before a dissolution, during which MPs who are standing down from Parliament are given time to make a farewell speech. There’s more than usual of those - 96 as of Thursday, including at least 60 Conservatives. Many of the Tories are relatively early in their Commons careers, suggesting a lack of confidence at the party’s chances. So accounting for the need to include those extra days in the timetable, the calling of an election could be even earlier, for instance March 21 or 22. There is recent precedent for a General Election to coincide with local
elections – it happened in May 2015. Two years later,
Theresa May called a snap election in June 2017 - prompting Brenda from Bristol’s famous outburst . By law, the last possible date for the dissolution of the current Parliament is December 17, 2024, meaning that the election would have to take place no later than January 28, 2025 (which is a Tuesday, rather than the customary Thursday for polling days). But if he did that, Mr Sunak would be ruining everyone’s
Christmas. Brenda wouldn’t be alone in venting her displeasure. MORE ABOUT