Deputy
Prime
Minister
Oliver
Dowden
has
hinted
a
January
2025
election
is
possible
after
the
prime
minister
himself
insisted
he
was
preparing
for
a
poll
in
the
second
half
of
this
year.
Facing
questions
from
Sky
News‘
Trevor
Phillips,
the
deputy
prime
minister
(DPM)
said
2024
“almost
certainly
is
an
election
year”,
suggesting
the
prospect
of
a
later
date
has
not
been
ruled
out.
Rishi
Sunak
has
previously
said
he
intends
to
call
an
election
in
the
second
half
of
the
year,
with
October
or
November
seen
by
many
as
the
favoured
period.
The
latest
possible
date
he
could
delay
the
poll
until
is
January
28,
2025.
Dowden
told
the
programme:
“as
we
get
into
an
actual
election
campaign,
and
this
almost
certainly
is
an
election
year,
we
move
from
a
kind
of
referendum
on
the
government
to
a
choice.
“I’m
confident
as
people
face
that
choice
and
they
look
at
the
threat
of
Labour,
whether
it’s
building
over
the
greenbelt
in
my
constituency,
carte
blanche
to
do
that,
whether
it’s
in
relation
to
their
employment
laws,
which
are
going
to
destroy
the
jobs
market,
or
it’s
in
relation
to
their
their
sums
that
don’t
add
up
versus
our
plan –
you
will
see
those
numbers
narrowing.”
Meanwhile,
Liberal
Democrats
deputy
leader
Daisy
Cooper
urged
Sunak
to
end
speculation,
claiming
the
public
“deserves
the
chance
to
deliver
their
verdict
at
the
ballot
box
without
any
further
delay”.
“Rishi
Sunak
needs
to
put
the
country
out
of
its
misery
and
name
an
election
date
now,”
she
said.
“People
across
the
country
are
fed
up
with
this
endless
speculation
of
when
the
election
will
be.”
Dowden
also
told
Sky
News
he
did
not
know
why
a
Conservative
campaign
poster
featuring
the
King
had
been
deleted
from
social
media.
The
poster,
which
was
mocked
by
some
on
X,
formerly
Twitter,
featured
text
claiming
Britain
is
the
“second
most
powerful
country
in
the
world”.
This
was
based
on
consultancy
firm
Brand
Finance’s
rankings
of
different
nations’
soft
power,
with
the
UK
coming
second
to
the
US.
Nevertheless,
it
had
drawn
criticism
for
solely
focusing
on
the
contribution
of
men.
The
poster
also
featured
a
montage
of
images
including
Charles,
Oppenheimer
film
director
Christopher
Nolan,
Sunak
himself,
the
England
men’s
football
team,
and
military
jets.
Asked
about
its
disappearance
from
the
Conservatives’
official
X
account,
Dowden
said:
“I
have
absolutely
no
idea
why
that
happened,
but
I
would
commend
the
sentiment
there,
which
is
the
strength.”
By
David
Lynch,
PA
Political
Staff
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