Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced the date of the next election, following months of speculation on when the UK would head to the polls.
After a day of feverish talk in Whitehall, Sunak emerged from 10 Downing Street to announce that the election would be held on 4 July. With the date set, we look at what’s next for trade policy in the UK.
Parliament
Parliament will be prorogued on Friday (24 May) and will officially be dissolved on 30 May.
Any parliamentary business needs to be resolved before Friday.
After this, a period of ‘purdah’ begins where strict rules govern what civil servants and ministers can and cannot say. While ministers will remain in post, they will not be able to make any major policy announcements.
The next parliament will meet again for swearing in on 9 July, five days after the election.
Trade negotiations
A number of high-profile negotiations on trade deals are ongoing but will likely be paused until after the election.
Notably, the UK-India talks have hit a double snag, as both countries are now in an election season.
A fifth round of negotiations on the Switzerland-UK trade deal was also slated to take place in “early Summer 2024”, but this may well be pushed back, with talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council and Turkey also likely to be in a similar position.
Possible review
David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, told Politico Morning Trade that some of these agreements could be reviewed:
“If there is to be a change of administration, I’d expect Labour to review these and all other negotiations against broader objectives, and potentially put greater focus on negotiations with the EU, Switzerland, and Turkey.”
The Independent reported that senior Labour MPs, including shadow exports minister Tan Dhesi and shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock, attended a meeting of the US right-wing thinktank Heritage Foundation, possibly signalling Labour’s openness to working on a UK-US trade deal.
Election
Both Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer sought to focus their message on “economic stability” early, with Labour’s Gillingham launch focusing on “change” and Sunak’s late night rally yesterday urging voters to stick with the Conservatives.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the election was a chance for voters to “transform our politics”, also focusing on the state of the UK economy, while the SNP cried foul over the decision to hold an election during the school holidays in Scotland.
In a bit of potential good news for Sunak, Nigel Farage said that he would not be standing for election as a Reform UK candidate. Several polls showed that a Reform party headed by Farage would make gains at the Conservatives’ expense.
Background
The date of the election had been a topic of consistent questioning for Sunak, who had until January 2025 before he was obliged to call one.
He survived a set of poor election results earlier in May after an alleged plot to remove him fizzled out.
While no manifesto has officially been launched, these are expected to be released over the coming weeks.
Only last week, Starmer announced his “first steps for change”, with five pledges on key policies such as economic stability, a new Border Security Command and a ‘Great British Energy’ plan.
Sunak has long relied on his five pledges, which include reducing inflation and growing the economy.