“I can’t for the life of me imagine why he has done this,” former Tory MP Matthew Parris wrote in The Times newspaper. “Rishi Sunak surely cannot believe the Conservatives can win the election this summer.”

Sunak argued on Thursday that the economy was turning a corner, and he had a plan to tackle illegal immigration. But with prices in the shops up 21 per cent in the last three years and the national health service buckling under record waiting times, it may be hard to persuade voters that Britain is on the right track.

“Even though there’s more work to do, and I know it will take time for you to see the benefits, the plan is working,” Sunak told voters at an event with workers in central England.

The former investment banker announced his decision in the pouring rain in Downing Street on Wednesday, having to shout over protesters blaring the song “Things Can Only Get Better” – an anthem associated with Labour’s crushing 1997 election victory under Tony Blair that ended the last long period of Conservative rule.

Sunak also admitted on Thursday that the first flights sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, a flagship policy that is tangled in legal challenges, would not start before the vote.

He did receive one boost, however, when Nigel Farage, a former Brexit campaigner, said he would not seek election for Reform, likely blunting the appeal of the right-wing party and reducing its ability to eat into the Conservatives’ voter base.

At stake is control of the world’s sixth-largest economy, which has endured years of low growth and high inflation, is still battling to make a success of its 2016 decision to leave the European Union, and is slowly recovering from twin shocks of Covid-19 and an energy price spike caused by the war in Ukraine.

That backdrop makes the economy one of the most important electoral battlegrounds. The two parties are also likely to focus on migration, defence, health and security.

Political turmoil

Polls show voters want change, even if they are not hugely enthused by Starmer and his Labour Party, after 14 years of Conservative government marked by unprecedented levels of political turmoil and so-called culture war issues.

Coffee shop worker Kitty McMurray, on her way to work, said the country needed an election because it felt like everything was falling apart. “Bring it on,” the 29-year-old said.

Starmer told voters at an event in Gillingham, southeast England, that he wanted to renew, rebuild and reinvigorate Britain. He focused on deprivation and the invisible barriers that prevent many from improving their lot.

Referencing children who live in inner-city areas where big corporations such as Google have a presence, he said: “they cannot imagine themselves ever making that journey from their school to those jobs. It’s a few hundred yards.”

Starmer is the country’s former chief prosecutor who has pulled Labour’s politics back to the centre ground after it lurched to the left under his predecessor.

Were Labour to win, Starmer would become Britain’s sixth prime minister in eight years, the highest turnover since the 1830s, underscoring the level of turmoil that has gripped a country once known for its political stability and pragmatism.

While the electioneering gets under way, activity in parliament is expected to pick up too as the government works out which of the pieces of legislation currently in process will be rushed through, and which will fall by the wayside.

Laws currently under discussion include Sunak’s plan to impose some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules by banning anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes.

With Sunak calling the election earlier than the October or November that most had expected, all parties were also racing to line up enough candidates to contest every seat.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse