With 2024 being a UK election year, the opposition wants an early vote. PM Rishi Sunak is in no rush

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The politician favored to become Britain’s next prime minister has kicked off an election year by accusing the governing Conservatives of leading the country into decline and despair. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Thursday that a Labour government would deliver “Project Hope” after 14 years of Conservative rule. But he ruled out major tax cuts or spending rises soon after an election that must be held by January 2025. Opinion polls consistently give Labour a double-digit lead, and Starmer urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “bring it on” and fire the starting gun on an election campaign. However, Sunak said the election would probably be held “in the second half of this year.”