Jeremy Hunt suggests election will be in October as speculation mounts over poll date

Jeremy Hunt suggests election will be in October as speculation mounts over poll date

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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has suggested that the general election could be held in October as speculation continues about when the UK might go to the polls for a national vote.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak last week ruled out a snap vote on 2 May when voters head to the polls in local elections across England.

He has previously said that his “working assumption” was that he would hold a vote in the second half of the year but has not yet confirmed a date.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Hunt suggested the vote could take place in October as he was questioned on the government’s spending plans.

“And of course, if the general election is in October that will mean it’s very, very tight and that’s why we’re thinking in advance about the most important element of that spending review, which is the productivity element – how do we have more productive public services,” Mr Hunt told peers on the Economic Affairs Committee.

The chancellor addresses MPs

(House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)

Earlier in the session, Mr Hunt, who faces a battle to hold onto his South West Surrey seat, also said “I hope” to do  “another fiscal event this parliament”.

Speculation about a 2 May election had reached fever pitch until Mr Sunak eventually ruled out holding one on that date.

Downing Street sources later told The Independent that the date had been pencilled in for the second Thursday in October.

Labour accused the prime minister of being too scared to go to the country as the Conservative Party trails the opposition by a double-digit margin.

Talk then almost immediately turned to whether Mr Sunak could go to the polls in June as former prime minister Theresa May had done back in 2017 after failing to break the deadlock over Brexit.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has called on Mr Sunak to call an election as soon as possible.

Earlier this week allies of Mr Sunak said it was still the PM’s intention to call an election in the second half of the year amid reports of a plot by Tory rebels to oust him from office.

Sources told The Times that Mr Sunak would be prepared to call an earlier election as a means of avoiding another Conservative Party leadership contest.

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