What is the date of the next UK General Election?
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You might assume that with Labour's 'landslide victory' the next General Election will be in 2028. The News Agents explore why that might not necessarily be the case.
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In Brief:
- The next UK General Election could be scheduled for either May 2028 or May 2029, depending on Labour's performance.
- Labour's victory has been described as a 'loveless landslide', with the electorate primarily focused on ousting the Conservatives.
- Keir Starmer's success will be judged on his party delivering economic growth and navigating key political relationships, particularly with the US.
Keir Starmer has just completed his first week as PM and there have been a swarth of updates from the party on what issues they are tackling - Junior Doctors, Prisons, NATO, Defence spending - the list goes on. But one News Agent listener, Luke from Whitby, was interested in the date of the next general election. Should we assume that 2028 is already locked in?
In the UK, the maximum term length of a Parliament is five years from the day on which the Parliament first met. Whilst we are relatively used to 5-year terms nowadays, this has not always the case.
Lewis is quick to land the point: "I think it's quite simple. If things are going well, it'll be in 2028. If things are going badly, it'll be in 2029."
Emily adds: "Yes, I think that's probably right." Although, she pushes back on the phrase currently circulating which has described Labour's victory as a 'loveless landslide' perhaps suggesting that Labour had a lucky win.
She says: "I think the electorate felt they had one job this time round...kicking out the conservatives. And they did that whichever way they could. But I genuinely think it's all to play for in terms of what Labour does now or what the world does to Labour."
Recent events in US politics have already emphasised how important it is for Starmer to make his mark on the international stage. The next year will be pivotal - which political relationships will be most important to Labour's success? Will it be Biden, Trump, Kamala Harris or other new emerging Democratic contenders for leadership?
And here in the UK, Emily says "he's got to deliver economic growth. In terms of how many things are broken right now in this country that they are promising to fix? We're going to judge them on that. There's no two ways about it."
Delving further into their crystal balls, both Emily and Lewis offered a more concrete timeline:
Lewis says: "The parliamentary deadline would be the end of July 2029. If things go well, it could be May 4th 2028, or if things go badly, May the third 2029 - because they need to coincide with the local elections which will be delayed. So let's put that in the diary!"
"It won't be August" says Emily.
"And unlikely to be July,” continues Lewis, “or that will mean getting back to Spring elections. And at least we've broken the December election thing which was worrying for a while. It's always wet. Rishi did us all a favour with that because, as we all know, it's been such a glorious Summer!'
Listen to the discussion in full on The News Agents.
