Nine key dates for the general election 2024 as Rishi Sunak announces polling date

Following months of speculation about when a General Election will be called, the Prime Minister has finally laid out the key dates when MPs will quit working in parliament and begin campaigning - with just six weeks to go until election day.

In a rain-soaked speech outside of Downing Street during his 20th month in office, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed that the country will go to the polls July 4 and have their say on who they want to represent their constituency in the Houses of Parliament. But, as with much of British politics, this process is anything but straightforward.

The Prime Minister confirmed that he went to King Charles today to request that Parliament be dissolved, an ancient and essential step in British democracy that has remained more or less the same since the 1700s. But this also means that soon Parliament will end and any outstanding legislative bills yet to pass, and naturally this is not on the same day as Sunak requested the Dissolution of Parliament.

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All parliamentary business will end on Friday, May 24, meaning that the Government will only have two working days to get its long-awaited Tobacco and Vapes Bill, or Online Safety Act, passed by MPs. Parliament will then be formally dissolved May 30 ahead of the month-long General Election campaign.

This also means that the country will have swathes of new MPs by July 9, when scores of new politicians will take up seats in the House of Commons.

In a statement, Downing Street said: “The Prime Minister has today asked His Majesty The King to proclaim the Dissolution of Parliament. His Majesty has been graciously pleased to signify that he will comply with