British PM Rishi Sunak declares July 4 as UK general election date

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday ended frenzied speculation by announcing that the country's general election will be held on July 4.

In an address from the lectern on the steps of 10 Downing Street on a rainy London evening, the country's first Prime Minister of Indian heritage confirmed a summer poll in six weeks’ time and that the Parliament would soon be dissolved after he formally informed King Charles III of the election timeline.

The 44-year-old leader laid out his record in office in his pitch to the British electorate, who will soon give their verdict at the ballot box.

"I will do everything in my power to provide you with the strongest possible protection I can. That is my promise to you… now is the moment for Britain to choose its future,” he said.

It comes as the governing Conservative Party is forecast for a general election drubbing by most opinion polls, with the Opposition Labour Party holding a firm lead after a series of recent byelection and local election victories.

A Labour spokesperson said the party is "fully ready to go whenever" and that the country is "crying out for a general election".

Earlier, speculation around a UK general election being around the corner, possibly in early July, went on overdrive as Sunak chaired a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street for which ministers rather unusually cut short foreign visits and changed their plans to ensure they can attend.

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