Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter

So Rishi Sunak says his "working assumption" is that the general election (which has to happen by 28 January next year at the latest) will take place in the second half of 2024, but didn't offer any time scale beyond that.

Labour isn't happy about this, with Sir Keir Starmer asked in an interview with our political editor Chris Mason why the PM couldn't set a date.

We are bringing this page to a close now, but if you want more on what's been going on today:

• Rishi Sunak suggests the election will be in the second half of the year
• Has the prime minister really ruled out a spring election?
• Big difference between Labour and Tories, says Sir Keir Starmer

Today's coverage was brought to you by Imogen James, Laura Gozzi, Chas Geiger and Oliver Slow and was edited by Adam Durbin and me.

We'll be bringing this page to a close soon, but before we do, the latest episode of the BBC's 5 Minutes On podcast is out, covering Rishi Sunak's general election hint.

Political editor Chris Mason offers his assessment of the PM’s “working assumption” that there’ll be an election in the second half of 2024.

You can listen here.

Let’s have a quick recap of what’s been happening today:

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that his "working assumption" was that the general election will be held in the "second half of this year"
• His comments came after Labour leader Keir Starmer announced “Project Hope” during a speech in Bristol, saying that the public were right to be anti-Westminster
• Afterwards Starmer accused the PM of "squatting" in Downing St in response to Sunak’s election comments. "Why can't he set a date?”, he asked in an interview with our political editor
• And Starmer wasn’t the only one to say Sunak was squatting, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey referred to the PM as “Squatter Sunak”
• In his speech this morning, Starmer did acknowledge that the last 12 months had been "tricky", but promised a "better year" ahead.

You can read more here.

Chris Mason also asks Starmer whether the doctors' union, the British Medical Association, is justified in rejecting some requests from NHS leaders for striking junior doctors to go back into work in extreme circumstances.

The Labour leader says neither he nor the doctors want to see these strikes.

He suggests there is a deal to be done, but the doctors and the government are "arguing about who goes in the room first to start the negotiations".

The government needs to "just get in the room", he adds.

Pressed on the specific question, Starmer says in previous strikes, doctors have responded to these requests for emergency cover, and he supports that - but the details need to be "thrashed out by others".

More now from Keir Starmer’s interview with the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason.

He says there is "nothing elusive" about his party's missions for government, as he pushes back against suggestions that Labour lacks purpose.

Starmer cites pledges to halve violence against women and girls, build 1.5m homes and create the next generation of skilled and secure jobs.

"I can't see that there's any ambiguity or lack of clarity there and, for anybody to think there is, then I suggest bring the election on or let's test this in practice," the Labour leader adds.

He also insists he's "absolutely committed" to decarbonising electricity by 2030.

Keir Starmer is insisting there are real dividing lines between Labour and the Conservatives ahead of a general election, which the prime minister is now suggesting will take place in the second half of 2024.

In an interview with BBC political editor Chris Mason, the Labour leader dismisses criticism that his plans are not distinct enough from Rishi Sunak's, saying the "decade of national renewal" he is proposing contrasts with "14 years of decline" under the Tories.

He also says Labour's plans to decarbonise electricity by 2030 and build more homes are among "huge" areas of disagreement.

In a speech in Bristol this morning, Starmer promised to fight the Tories with "Project Hope" and to focus on increasing economic growth.

At the weekend, Labour MP and former party policy chief Jon Cruddas warned it was hard to identify what Starmer would do in Downing Street.

After his speech earlier, Labour leader Keir Starmer spoke to the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.

Stay tuned for the key lines.

Image source, PA Media

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying he agreed with comments made by Keir Starmer in his speech earlier - albeit not quite for the same reasons.

Earlier, the Labour leader argued that voters are "right to be anti-Westminster" - but Yousaf put this down to Westminster being "bad for Scotland" - citing Brexit which he says they didn't vote for and a cost-of-living crisis they didn't cause.

"People in Scotland are suffering from the consequences of Westminster harm," the leader added, arguing that decisions for the country should be made by people in Scotland.

Image source, PA Media

The head of Unite, one of the UK’s main trade unions, has offered her reaction to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s remarks on the economy this morning.

Sharon Graham says Starmer is correct to say the UK is “exposed on the international stage” when it comes to energy, but that nationalisation of the energy sector – in particular the National Grid – is crucial.

“Put simply ‘Project Hope’ will require serious investment. Relying on growth to generate that investment is not realistic,” she says, adding that the country has not had “significant growth” since the 1970s.

“If we depend on growth to fund all the investment we need, it will only result in inertia,” Graham adds, adding that while a Labour government is needed, the party needs “to be serious about real change”.

Reaction has been coming in to the prime minister’s suggestion that the general election would take place later this year, as opposed to the Spring.

Sunak accused of ‘squatting’ by two rivals

A critical response from Sunak's political rivals was swift, with Keir Starmer accusing the prime minister of “squatting” in Downing Street.

Speaking to the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason, he said: “The prime minister has hinted without setting a date that it might be later this year. Why can’t he set a date?”

He accused Sunak of “dithering and delaying while the country wants change”.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also called Sunak a “squatter”, accusing him of “running scared of a May general election”.

The expert’s view

Meanwhile, a polling expert told the BBC that the likely holding of a general election later in the year was not surprising given what polling data currently shows.

Joe Twyman, co-founder of polling company Deltapoll, said the Conservative Party has not been ahead of Labour in a published opinion poll since December 2021 – or even within single digits of the opposition since September 2022.

“So it’s been a long time since the gap has been even reasonably close between the two main parties,” he said.

Image source, PA Media

After a quiet first few days of what is likely to be a blockbuster political year, we have started to hear more from the leaders of the two main parties – Conservatives and Labour.

Starmer’s speech

The day started with a speech in Bristol from Labour leader Keir Starmer, where he set out his vision for what he calls “Project Hope”. In a speech that was highly critical of the Conservative government, he acknowledged widespread cynicism towards politics, and said people needed “credible hope”.

Starmer added that Labour’s goals are “unapologetically ambitious”, but could be achieved with hard work and determination, and said that Britain must “come together” to “heal the wounds” of the last 14 years.

Sunak’s interview

Not long after Starmer’s speech finished in Bristol, across the country in Mansfield, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a Q&A session in a youth centre.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, he was asked if 2024 would be an election year, and responded by saying that his “working assumption” was that it would take place “in the second half of this year”.

“In the meantime, I’ve got lots to be getting on with,” he said.

Tuesday 28 January 2025 is the latest the next election can legally be.

Image source, .

As you'll see from the graph above, most elections in the UK since World War Two have taken place around the middle of the year - in May and June.

Elections towards the end of the year - as Rishi Sunak has suggested will happen this year - are rarer, although four elections have been held in October since 1945.

The UK's last general election in 2019, which the Conservatives won resoundingly, took place in December.

Keir Starmer has been speaking to the BBC's political editor Chris Mason about Rishi Sunak saying that his “working assumption” was that a general election would happen in the second half of this year.

See what he had to say below.

You’ll be able to read, watch and listen to the full interview with the Labour leader across BBC News from 17:00 GMT today.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

Let's unpack what Rishi Sunak has said about the timing of an election - and what he hasn't.

"My working assumption is we'll have a general election in the second half of this year."

Sixteen words in which the prime minister is, outwardly, saying something.

And yet also saying potentially nothing.

Let's be clear - this is generating news because Sunak has never before been drawn on the timing of the general election, and it is the topic that is obsessing Westminster.

And, for the first time, he has offered an answer.

But he hasn't ruled anything out.

Read more from Chris here.

Returning for a moment to Keir Starmer's speech earlier, the Labour leader said his party will bring hope to what he called a "downtrodden Britain".

He said the Conservatives "divide and decline" brand of politics must be "crushed" ahead of the next general election, which was much of the focus of his speech.

Starmer also told the audience in Bristol that voting for Labour could represent a "light at the end of the tunnel". Watch the clip below:

Joe Twyman, co-founder of polling company Deltapoll, says the government calling a general election later in the year would not be surprising, given what the prospective voting data shows at the moment.

Speaking on the BBC News Channel, he says the Conservative Party has not been ahead of Labour in a published opinion poll since December 2021 - or even within single digits of the opposition since September 2022.

"So it’s been a long time since the gap has been even reasonably close between the two main parties", the polling expert says.

Twyman explains that data also shows that the public is largely of the view that the government has not delivered on Rishi Sunak's "five promises” - to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists and stop the boats.

"That’s not a good foundation on which to build an election campaign," he adds.

Here's the clip of Rishi Sunak announcing that his "working assumption" is the next general election will be held in the second half of this year:

Image source, PA Media

Rishi Sunak’s announcement that a general election is likely to take place later in the year shows he is “running scared of the verdict of the British public”, says Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary.

He tells BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme that the announcement is “typical of a very weak, desperate prime minister”.

Asked what Labour’s strategy would be of a later-than-expected election, he says the party will “continue to talk about the change we want to bring in this country after 14 years of decline” - a reference to how long the Conservative Party has been in power.

Image source, Reuters

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's former leader and only MP, has told Rishi Sunak that the country cannot wait until the second half of the year for an election just because he is "terrified of a thumping defeat".

"Our economy is on its knees, public services have been decimated, the climate is in crisis - we need a general election NOW," Lucas - who is standing down at the next election - says on social media.