For SpAds, PAds, and Campaigners, School’s Out for Summer
Despite a flurry of speculation about the possibility of a June or July election – which was a talking point before the locals – the chances of that are now basically nil. There was a brief spike in nerves ahead of the PM’s speech on Monday – but that turned out to be irrelevant for the election date. The FT reports that Labour staff were previously on a strict holiday ban which has now been lifted by Labour HQ. Wait until the unions hear about those working practices…
Tory staff were never put on a holiday ban at all – and MPs of all parties have also been busily booking up summer retreats. Chris Philp just this morning said he’d booked holiday for August and, when asked if the election would be in summer, said: “I hope not“. It remains interesting that no whip has been imposed on summer constituency campaigning for Tory MPs, as it has been in previous cycles. They’ll be holding more piña coladas than clipboards…
Any July or August general election would have been highly unusual – the last August election was in 1895, and the last July one immediately after World War Two. It looks like the current SW1 status quo will continue over the summer break. While an autumn or winter election remains most likely, the legal deadline for polling day after this parliament is Tuesday 28 January 2025. He couldn’t, could he…
