A Conservative minister appeared to rule out a May general election this morning – while a Labour frontbencher bet £10 with Sky News presenter Kay Burley that a vote would take place that month.
Speculation about the date of the general election is continuing to swirl, with the latest possible date of a vote being January next year.
The decision on when to hold a vote rests with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
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Asked on Times Radio if a vote would be taking place in May, trade minister Greg Hands simply said “no”.
Labour has been pressuring Mr Sunak to call an election as soon as possible, as they lead the government by around 20 points in the polls.
This morning, shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth bet Kay Burley £10 a vote would take place in May.
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Mr Ashworth said: “This election I think is coming in May – I think it’s definitely coming in May. The Conservatives are planning for May.”
Kay replied that she would “bet you 10 of your English pounds it doesn’t”.
Mr Ashworth shook Kay’s hand, saying “I bet you it’s coming in May, right? Let’s do that – we can do it”.
He called on Mr Sunak to “name the date” of the election.
The Labour politician and Kay agreed the winnings will go to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, which Mr Ashworth raises money for.
If a general election were to take place in May, one tactic would be to have it coincide with local and mayoral elections on the 2nd of the month.
This would require parliament to be dissolved on 26 March, as polling day is 25 days after dissolution.
26 March is the last day the Commons is sitting before the Easter recess.
Asked about the likelihood of a May vote, Sky deputy political editor Sam Coates said: “I’m not nailing my colours to any mast.
“We’re like GCHQ right, we’re interpreting SIGINT – the kind of little bits of signals from here and there.
“We haven’t got a coherent pattern at the moment – actually, maybe the budget will tell us what’s going on.”
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