Tory minister lets slip details on when the general election will be

05 March 2024 , 08:09

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Tory minister lets slip details on when the general election will be

A Tory Minister has appeared to rule out a general election in May after the party sunk to a new low in the polls on the eve of the Budget.

Asked whether he was ready for an early election and whether there was "any sniff" of it being in May, Greg Hands told Times Radio: "No". It comes after the Conservatives were hit by a humiliating blow - on the eve of the Budget - as the party sinks to its lowest poll rating in almost 50 years.

Pressed on whether he believed the Tories had "no chance" at the next election, Mr Hands replied: "I disagree with that. Obviously the poll that matters will be the general election. Of course I'd like us to be doing much better than that.

"There are two polls that matter - there's one on 2 May, particularly here in London to get rid of Mayor Sadiq Khan. And then there's the poll - the general election."

The Tories have plunged to a new low in the polls as Rishi Sunak struggles to convince voters (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite the Tories being way behind Mr Khan in the London Mayoral race, he added: "Sadiq Khan is an extremely unpopular politician. You'll have to see what happens on May 2 but what I'm saying it does open up the possibility of a Conservative win in the London mayoralty and that would build us up quite nicely for the general election later this year, particularly in London".

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But Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth insisted: "This election I think is coming in May." He also bet Sky News host Kay Burley £10 towards charity on the issue, adding: "I think it's definitely coming in May - the Conservatives are planning for May. My challenge to Rishi Sunak today is name that date."

The PM has previously said it is his "working assumption" the general election will be held in the second half of 2024 and by law he must call a vote by December. But there has been speculation Mr Sunak could head to the polls in the spring when voters cast their ballots in May's local elections.

Mr Hands's comments came after the Conservatives suffered a poll humiliation on the eve of the Budget as their support fell to just 20% in an Ipsos survey. That is the lowest figure it has recorded since it began its regular polling in 1978. It puts Rishi Sunak’s party 27 points behind Labour.

In a desperate bid to turn around the abysmal ratings, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is plotting a raid on the public sector in a desperate last ditch bid to find the cash to pay for tax cuts in the Budget tomorrow. He is thought to be trying to scrape together the money to take 2p off National Insurance or Income Tax.

Mr Hunt did the same in the Autumn Statement in November, but it failed to move the polls. The levy on wages was previously hiked to its highest ever level when Mr Sunak was Chancellor.

Mr Hands also told Sky News on Tuesday a responsibile Budget would involve a "balance" between giving people "a bit of a tax break this year" and "still keeping a record amount of funding into public services". Mr Hands then asked people to "juge us on our record" as he declined to say whether cuts to public services would follow the Chancellor's upcoming announcement.

Asked whether there would be a reduction in funding, the Trade Minister said "Judge us on our record so far. It's not for me to reveal today what might be in the Budget tomorrow but I would say there's record numbers of police officers, record numbers of doctors, record numbers of nurses."

He added: "I think a responsible budget will be making sure the country and economy continues to recover from the pandemic, from Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the spike in inflation that we've had to deal with, and I think that means continuing to put record amount of funding into public services while still giving the British people, I think, a bit of a tax break this year as well."

Ashley Cowburn