United Kingdom: The Prime Minister called the election for July 4

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on Wednesday for a general election on July 4, in which the Conservatives are expected to lose power to the opposition Labor Party, after 14 years in Downing Street.

At the end of months of speculation about when new elections would be called, Sunak, 44, stood outside his Downing Street office and announced that he would call the election sooner than some expected, a risky strategy for his party, which is falling in the polls.

“Now is the time for Britain to choose its future,” he declared, listing what he considered to be the highlights of his government tenure, including the introduction of the so-called furlough scheme that helped businesses get through the Covid-19 pandemic. Then he announced: “We will have a general election on the Fourth of July.”

Sunak’s party lags far behind Labor in the opinion polls, and is even somewhat isolated from some members of the party itself. He relies more on a small team of advisors who will guide him through what will be a complex campaign.