Rishi Sunak will on Wednesday afternoon call a surprise early election for July, senior sources have told the Guardian, a contest that will see Keir Starmer try to take power for Labour after 14 years of Conservative-led government.

The prime minister is set to announce the election will be in the early summer, with speculation that it will be held on 4 July, after claiming inflation was back under control and the economy was improving.

Labour is about 20 points ahead in the polls and Starmer is widely expected to become the next prime minister after transforming his party since its historic election defeat almost five years ago.

Sunak will make the announcement after a day of febrile speculation in Westminster, triggered by rare good economic news for the government and an unusually timed cabinet meeting, with senior ministers changing their plans to attend.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/22/rishi-sunak-will-call-general-election-for-july-in-surprise-move-sources

4:48: Rishi Sunak is going to make the election announcement outside No 10 at 5pm.
...
5:00: According to Beth Rigby from Sky News, Rishi Sunak will be making his statement from inside No 10 because it is raining.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/may/22/uk-general-election-july-2024-sunak-starmer-senior-sources-say-uk-politics-live-news