Despite MP defection, Rishi Sunak would not rule out a July poll

Days before the nation’s municipal and mayoral elections on May 2, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday declined to definitively rule out a general election in July in the wake of a devastating defection of one of his Conservative Party MPs to the opposition Labour Party.

Doctor and MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Dan Poulter, stated he could no longer support the Tory government’s performance on the National Health Service (NHS) and would instead pledge his loyalty to the opposition benches before resigning from parliament at the next election.

In light of this most recent humiliation, Sunak was questioned about if his repeated claims that a general election will take place in the “second half of this year”—that is, in July—during an interview with “Sky News.”

After being pressed five times to rule out holding an election in what would be the UK’s busiest summer month, Sunak responded, “When it comes to a general election, I’ve been very clear about that multiple times, and again, I’m not going to say anything more than I’ve already said, I’ve been very clear about that.”

“You’re going to attempt to infer any meaning you want from what I say. I will attempt to say the same thing every time. He said, “You should just listen to what I said—the same thing I’ve said all year.”