UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is putting “vanity before country” if he is waiting to clock up two years in Downing Street before calling an election, UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.
It comes after Mr Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022, said it was his “working assumption” that he would call a general election in the second half of the year.
The stance opens the door to a potential autumn general election.
Mr Starmer said the UK was drifting while the country waited to elect a new Westminster government.
Speaking to Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, Mr Starmer said he wanted an election “as soon as possible”, stating that he thought the “country is ready for it”.
He continued: “I have to say, the prime minister is sort of almost taking himself out of this — the ‘working assumption’ is as if it is somebody else’s working assumption.
“If he had a plan, he would set the date and he should set the date because at the moment it is very hard to see how him continuing in government improves the lives of anybody in the country, so there is drift.
“I can’t help feeling that all he really wants to do is to get two years clocked up of his own premiership, and that means he is putting vanity before country.
“And so my challenge to him would be: if you’ve got a plan, set the date.
“If you haven’t got a plan, just get on with it as quickly as possible.”
The decision by the UK government to bring forward the 2p cut in national insurance, announced in the autumn statement, from April to January 6th was seen by commentators at the time as a signal Mr Sunak could trigger a spring election.
An announcement last week that the budget will be held on March 6th appeared to validate that theory further, paving the way for a general election to match up with local elections on May 2nd.
But Mr Sunak told broadcasters on Thursday that his “working assumption” was that he would call an election in the second half of 2024, ahead of the January 2025 deadline for a vote to be held.
Ahead of the contest, the Conservative Party has focused its political attacks on Labour’s pledge to invest £28 billion annually into green energy if Mr Starmer becomes prime minister, with some of the money coming through borrowing.
Labour had promised in 2021 to invest £28 billion a year until 2030 in green projects if it came to power, but last year Ms Reeves said the figure would instead be a target to work towards in the second half of a first parliament.
Mr Starmer said he is “absolutely” ready to defend Labour’s green pledges in a general election campaign, saying: “If they want that fight, bring it on.”
The Opposition leader said he was not prepared to relax his party’s target of having Britain running on clean power by 2030 — a transition he argued could save households money on their energy bills.
“It is absolutely clear to me that the Tories are trying to weaponise this issue, the £28 billion etcetera,” he told Sky.
“This is a fight I want to have.
“If we can have a fight going into the election between an incoming Labour government that wants to invest in the future long-term strategy that will lower our bills and give us energy independence versus stagnation, more of the same under this government — if they want that fight on borrow-to-invest, I’m absolutely up for that fight.”
Tory Party chairperson Richard Holden said: “This morning Keir Starmer recommitted to his 2030 energy promise and acknowledged it requires government spending to deliver.
“Labour’s own costing of this promise is £28 billion every year.
“Sir Keir Starmer was, again, not clear at all how he will pay for it given he also says he wants to keep debt falling – that can only mean thousands of pounds of higher taxes for every Briton.”
