Emily Thornberry has claimed she knows the exact timing of the General Election, adding it is an “open secret” in Westminster.
Speculation around when Rishi Sunak will go to the polls is rife after he used a speech earlier this month to shut down speculation he could delay it until January 2025.
Revealing that 2024 will be an “election year”, Mr Sunak remains tight-lipped about when he will ask the King to dissolve Parliament.
The main options are the Spring – likely in May – or the Autumn, however both come with risks and rewards.
Yesterday’s confirmation that the Spring Budget will come earlier than usual, on March 6, once again reignited rumours Britons could be heading to the ballot box within a few months.
Asked this morning whether she believes the early Budget date hints at an early election, Ms Thornberry claimed the election date is “the worst kept secret in Parliament”.
She said: “We’re likely to be heading for a May election, and this Budget date seems to confirm that.”
Asked whether Labour is ready for an early election, the Shadow Attorney General said: “For heaven’s sake, the whole country’s response is ‘bring it on’, isn’t it.
“The country’s desperate for an election, I mean we’ve really got to get rid of this lot and we want to have an opportunity to do so, that’s what people tell me.”
The top Labour politician also rejected Budget speculation that the Conservatives will use the keynote fiscal event to drive a wedge between them and Labour over tax and spend.
Ms Thornberry slammed the briefing in the papers about what may be in Jeremy Hunts March announcements, saying there “was a time where governments governed, and actually made the right decisions for the sake of the country and their first repose was not ‘what is best for the Tory Party’”.
She said: “Frankly it’s about time that we had a Government that was prepared to govern.”
Yesterday it emerged Sir Keir has ordered his frontbencher to finalise their manifesto policies by February 8, to ensure Labour is on a campaign footing for a spring election.
A spring election would allow any tax cut announcements in the Budget to be used as a springboard by the Tories during the campaign, however would have the downside of voters not yet feeling the benefit in their pay packets.
The Government has also set a desire to get planes to Rwanda flying by the spring, and a single flight would help their campaign on immigration.
In the event of a summer with lots of small boat crossings, it could also reduce bad headlines about immigration for the Government.
It would, however, carry the large downside of continuing sluggish economic growth, which Mr Sunak may hope delaying the poll until the Autumn could rectify.
