UK General Election 2024

[12LDA28C]

Personally, I'm very glad HS2 was scrapped to fill some potholes in Willesden.

(Image below is a now deleted graphic from the DfT's Twitter/X)

Network North London, clearly.

 

[Busaholic]

He's had a job offer in Silicon Valley.

That was probably settled months ago, but the temporary reduction in (one of the) inflation figures plus the welcome (to him) comments by the IMF a couple of days ago (i.e. there'd be an 'opportunity' to reduce Bank Rate three times before the end of the year) were enough to persuade him that his prospects would only decrease the longer he dithered. By the way, I suspect that IMF 'prediction' was guff, and there'd only have been one cut at most.

Oh, and he's never been prouder to be British right now, until he's never been prouder to be an American. May he be the last Tory PM in my lifetime

 

[jfollows]

It wasn't (meant to be) a political speech - it was announcing the dissolution of Parliament and the date of the election. That's the job of the prime minister

The political stuff is the job of the leader of the Conservative Party.

There was no coat of arms on the lectern; it was a party political spech.

 

[najaB]

Can anyone explain the rational logic behind this decision?

They got a little bit of not terrible economic news.

 

[12LDA28C]

Keir Starmer making a lot of bold claims live on the BBC right now about what a vote for Labour will achieve. Not sure that many people will be voting for Labour although plenty will vote against the Conservatives, which may well amount to the same thing of course.

Election is 'chance to change for the better' - Starmer

The Labour leader reacts to the prime minister calling a general election on 4 July.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[DarloRich]

Finally Sunak calls an election. The pictures of him looking like a drowned rat in the rain will be his legacy.

 

[Russel]

Well, that's a bit of positive news on a dull day!

Though how Sunak even got the top job is still something that baffles me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 May 2024 ==

Finally Sunak calls an election. The pictures of him looking like a drowned rat in the rain will be his legacy.

Sums up his time as PM though!

 

[PG]

Rishi Sunak got a bit wet.

He is weak so it figures he's a Tory Wet

 

[Jimini]

There was no coat of arms on the lectern; it was a party political spech.

Doesn't that simply show that he's not PM any more (he'd already seen the King and been granted the dissolution of government)?

 

[najaB]

Though how Sunak even got the top job is still something that baffles me.

By being less incompetent than Liz Truss. High bar, I know.

 

[jfollows]

Doesn't that simply show that he's not PM any more (he'd already seen the King and been granted the dissolution of government)?

No, he’s still PM.

 

[PGAT]

Must admit I didn't see that coming until earlier this afternoon. Rishi Sunak got a bit wet.

True pathetic fallacy

 

[Iskra]

They got a little bit of not terrible economic news.

But even then, why choose Independence Day!? It plays to an obvious narrative of a day for freeing oneself from Tory oppression.

Sunak has stood for nothing, achieved nothing and will soon be nothing. An absolute wet blanket of a leader of this country.

 

[renegademaster]

No, he’s still PM.

He's PM until the new government is formed right? Which could be weeks after the election if it ends up a hung parliament

 

[52290]

I'd completely forgotten that Prime Ministers are occasionally elected in this country.

 

[dk1]

Will the Government be allowed to do that sort of business while Parliament is dissolved, and if they do they'll have other priorities. If ASLEF are sensible (yeah I know), they won't hold anymore action until they've at least tried to talk to the next administration.

I would imagine we would be given more dates for strike action during the election campaign if it’s not resolved within the next few weeks.

 

[najaB]

Doesn't that simply show that he's not PM any more (he'd already seen the King and been granted the dissolution of government)?

Not sure that's the case. He would no longer be an MP, but the government continues to exist until after the election.

 

[renegademaster]

But even then, why choose Independence Day!? It plays to an obvious narrative of a day for freeing oneself from Tory oppression.

Sunak has stood for nothing, achieved nothing and will soon be nothing. An absolute wet blanket of a leader of this country.

It's a Thursday (all elections have to be ) and its 6 weeks from now

 

[jfollows]

He's PM until the new government is formed right? Which could be weeks after the election if it ends up a hung parliament

Gordon Brown stuck around until May 11 2010 after May 6 election, for example.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 May 2024 ==

It's a Thursday (all elections have to be ) and its 6 weeks from now

Only Thursday by convention, not by law. It makes sense to be able to clear out the loser over the weekend, though.

 

[Iskra]

Difficult to argue with the below:

x.com

x.com

Oliver Coppard said on X/Twitter:

Hard to have confidence in a prime minister who says he has a plan when he didn’t even have the foresight to bring an umbrella.

 

[12LDA28C]

But even then, why choose Independence Day!? It plays to an obvious narrative of a day for freeing oneself from Tory oppression.

Sunak has stood for nothing, achieved nothing and will soon be nothing. An absolute wet blanket of a leader of this country.

I'm sure he's achieved a substantial increase in the bank balances of himself and his wife since being PM.

 

[Gloster]

It's a Thursday (all elections have to be )

No. There is no law to say that a general election must be held on a Thursday: it is just convention. Under the Fixed-term Parliament Act of 2011 an election would be held on the first Thursday in May every five years, but that was repealed in 2022 and no substitute law has been made.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I'd completely forgotten that Prime Ministers are occasionally elected in this country.

Do we, the voting public, ever get to elect a Prime Minister? Local constituency MP perhaps, and your vote doesn't normally count that much if it's in a safe seat.

 

[Cross City]

A pathetic midget Prime Minister calling an election in pouring rain while getting drowned out by somebody blasting D:Ream’s “Things can only get better” at the Downing Street gates is a fitting metaphor for the managed decline the UK has gone through at the hands of his odious party over the past 14 years.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'd completely forgotten that Prime Ministers are occasionally elected in this country.

They aren't. They're voted in as an MP in their constituency. If they also happen to be leader of the party that gains a majority, then they become Prime Minister... but nobody is voting for the office of PM.
A popular party leader may well gain votes for his/her party because voters want them as PM, but that isn't what anyone is voting for directly.

 

[Busaholic]

I'd completely forgotten that Prime Ministers are occasionally elected in this country.

Oh, it happens quite a lot, but only by those with proven commitments to the ongoing supremacy of the aptly-abbreviated Con party. That's a maximum of 180,000 people.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Here are some of my thoughts on why he called a July election:-

• Many students will have finished and gone back home, but he registered vote in a different city - this might catch these students out and it will hurt the labour vote
• I don't think any flights to Ruanda will be happening soon, and the longer the flights don't happen the more the client media will start asking questions. If Labour get in power in July they can blame the failure and money wasted on the scheme on Labour.
• The cost of living will only get worse the more we head into winter (e.g energy bills etc)
• The Brexit checks, people might start to notice a lack of fresh produce in the supermarkets as they are being held up for checks in Kent.
• The introduction of EES in October, I can vision scenes of chaos in October half term as the system is introduced. Again get out now and blame Labour.
• Better feel good factor in the summer, people might forget the doom and gloom of the past 14 years if they head out voting on a hot sunny day.
• It would be harder to get Tory canvassers out in the deep of winter considering they tend to be older members of society.

I wish I could feel very positive, but I know the gap will close

 

[1D54]

I would imagine we would be given more dates for strike action during the election campaign if it’s not resolved within the next few weeks.

Parliament is to be dissolved on 30th May so what is the point in calling more strikes costing members more money. Sit it out for a few weeks and see what happens with the incoming new government.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Parliament is to be dissolved on 30th May so what is the point in calling more strikes costing members more money. Sit it out for a few weeks and see what happens with the incoming new government.

The argument for it is it will send a message to the new government, but calling a strike as soon as a new government is formed would make more sense.

 

[Bevan Price]

Here are some of my thoughts on why he called a July election:-

• Many students will have finished and gone back home, but he registered vote in a different city - this might catch these students out and it will hurt the labour vote
• I don't think any flights to Ruanda will be happening soon, and the longer the flights don't happen the more the client media will start asking questions. If Labour get in power in July they can blame the failure and money wasted on the scheme on Labour.
• The cost of living will only get worse the more we head into winter (e.g energy bills etc)
• The Brexit checks, people might start to notice a lack of fresh produce in the supermarkets as they are being held up for checks in Kent.
• The introduction of EES in October, I can vision scenes of chaos in October half term as the system is introduced. Again get out now and blame Labour.
• Better feel good factor in the summer, people might forget the doom and gloom of the past 14 years if they head out voting on a hot sunny day.
• It would be harder to get Tory canvassers out in the deep of winter considering they tend to be older members of society.

I wish I could feel very positive, but I know the gap will close

Also - the Tories may be expecting some economic bad new in about September or Uctober.......