British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set Wednesday, July 4, as the date for a nationwide parliamentary election that will determine who will govern the United Kingdom, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
He scheduled the vote at a time when his Conservative Party faces the biggest challenge of its 14-year rule, the agency noted.
Voters in the UK will elect 650 members of the House of Commons (the lower house of parliament) over the next five years. The party that gets a majority in it, alone or in a coalition, will form the next government, and its leader will be the prime minister.
Ending months of speculation over the date of new elections, Sunak indicated he was calling them earlier than some had expected.
"Now is the time for Britain to choose its future," the prime minister said, surprising many people who had prepared for elections only in the autumn.
In front of his residence on "Downing Street" 10, however, Sunak was almost drowned out by protesters who chanted "It can only get better" (Things Can Only Get Better) – the election campaign song of the Tony Blair-era rival Labour.