Rishi Sunak names July 4 for UK general election: What’s next?

Sunak announced general election which could signal an end to his Conservative Party’s 14 years of power in the UK.

British Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak has announced a snap general election to be held in the United Kingdom on July 4, despite having until January next year to hold one. Sunak, who is leader of the Conservative Party, and leaders of other political parties began their election campaigns on Thursday.

The 44-year-old prime minister made the surprise announcement in the pouring rain outside his Downing Street office in London on Wednesday.

So why has he announced an election now and what happens next?

A general election in the UK is required to be held within five years of the last one, which was in January 2019 when Boris Johnson led the Conservative Party to another triumph with an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons. The Conservatives have been in power since 2010, initially as part of a power-sharing, coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Following the 2015 election, the Conservatives became the sole party in power after the Liberal Democrats lost 49 of their 57 parliamentary seats.

While many expected the next election to take place in the autumn of this year, Sunak surprised observers by calling it for early July.