Why did Rishi Sunak call the election when he did? | LBC caller speculate

James O'Brien hears these callers ideas on the reasons for the PM calling a June general election.
It comes as Rishi Sunak is set 'to become the first PM to lose his seat' in a predicted election wipeout, a poll has found.
The same poll projects that the Conservatives will be down to just 53 seats, a collapse from the 365 MPs they won at the last election in 2019.
Around three-quarters of the current crop of Cabinet ministers would not return to Parliament if the results of the poll, conducted by Savanta and Electoral Calculus for the Telegraph, were borne out at the General Election on July 4.
01:58 James O’Brien: “The idea that Rishi Sunak was acting with a plan, or even with mitigation of risk, is one I can't shake.”
02:25 Caller John speculates the snap election call was down to 'Graham Brady and the flurry of no confidence letters.'
06:26 Caller Josh feels that Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave his role as PM early was a hope to keep Labour ‘on the wrong foot’.
09:35 James hears from caller Mike, who feels that Rishi Sunak just ‘snapped’ and wants his fellow politicians ‘to sort it out for themselves’.
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#jamesobrien #rishisunak #generalelection #ukpolitics #LBC
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[@PassiveAgressive319]

Sunak is the emblematic of the saying ‘just because you can become PM, doesn’t mean you should be PM’.

[@WalterReimer]

As is The Homunculus for the US Presidency.

[@SunofYork]

@@WalterReimer Is that an ankle sore ?

[@rufus1346]

He had a plan. To get his India deal through which would have made his in-laws 100's of millions. Now that plan isn't possible in the time he had left his new plan is to get his family to America so his girls can start their new school in time for the new school year. Smash and grab.

[@GregOrCreg]

The irony is that he'll likely keep his seat (unlike the vast majority of Tories), so he'll have to resign and trigger a by-election pretty sharpish.

[@JJ-is2we]

The Indian deal which flooded London with millions of Indians who roam in the area I live like gangs. We left the e.u due to us wanting to have less people in the Uk but ended up with over 1m of Rishi’s people instead!

[@AmandaJAart]

Yes, that makes lots of sense. The guy is in politics for himself. So, it stands to reason that the date of the election has been determined by his daughters' schooling requirements.

[@PADABOUM]

@@GregOrCregexactly, hilarious bit.

[@twofoursevenbeauty]

He says he has no plans to go to the US. But once the dust has settled and he'll resign as an MP and he'll be off. I'd put money on it 🙂

[@clivemason-ms8ju]

The irony is that it was 5 July 2022 when Sunak resigned as chancellor leading to Johnson's fall, and it is almost certain that it will be 5 July 2024 when he once again tenders his resignation, this time to the king.

[@PADABOUM]

Is there a 2 year bonus for this?

[@donkeykong7946]

Losing to Liz Truss wasn't the first setback, being told he couldn't have Sky TV was

[@PapiQaz]

😂😂

[@shaundonovan8816]

Quite simply his cronies needed a simple date to remember down at the Bookies.

[@flowerpower7288]

🤣🤣

[@neilburns5934]

You jest fella but it wouldn't surprise me

[@fozzyami]

He's had enough of scooping up free money and just wants to get back to the US where plebs won't question his brilliant ideas

[@danmayberry1185]

Yes I'm here about the Prime Minister job. Something about myself? Well .. I can estimate the price of Typhoo within £50, my wife pays no tax, and I bet on the financial collapse of the United Kingdom.

[@petyrkowalski9887]

Did you have Sky as a kid?

[@Mil-w6d]

Or have any working class friends, well not working class, but you know, friends

[@steveosborne2297]

When the Covid pandemic started I was living in Italy and we were totally shut down . At the time I had a small touristy KZbin channel living in Calabria and I commented on the fact that I did not have a clue what Boris was doing but I gave him the benefit of the doubt saying that he probably has more information than I do , I was obviously wrong . His decisions resulted in tens of thousands of additional unnecessary deaths .

[@nick1065]

Bilge…utter bilge.

[@steveosborne2297]

@@nick1065 Tell that to the dead

[@nick1065]

@@steveosborne2297 I bet you still wear a mask now…

[@1953mr]

A number of Tories weren't surprised.... They put bets on.

[@brianferguson7840]

Richy Sunak is not a completely incompetent, useless, hopeless, piece of characterless Jelly ! But, he could be with a little effort!!

[@PapiQaz]

🔥

[@childofthe60s100]

VERY LITTLE effort, that is!

[@simmybear31]

3 reasons: Hubris, arrogance, and stupidity!

[@alanwatterson2850]

His mind is booked into Hotel California, he wants his body to get there asap.

[@redemptivepete]

He can checkout any time he likes! But hopefully he will leave@

[@TimBadger-w7d]

We’ll look for him

[@alanwatterson2850]

@@redemptivepete 😅

[@samuelfawell9159]

I love how conservatives try to justify things like the election being called, “there’s a plan, they know what they are doing” when ALL evidence points to the opposite, a bunch a rich, out of touch, lunatics having no idea what they are doing and just blame someone else if they get called on it.

[@ibexdnb2879]

Expect more of the same from Labour mate.

[@samuelfawell9159]

@@ibexdnb2879 we have had 14 years of this BS from the Tories, you have any proof of Labour planning on doing this, because we have a documented history of the Tories failing to run the country and blaming everyone else

[@shawngrinter2747]

With tide of letters going up and the economy going down I think he took the decision to jump as the least worse option

[@jeffsimon9594]

*least worst

[@JelMain]

To this mob, PLAN is a four-letter word.

[@kanedNunable]

their only plan is to try and grab as much from the public purse as they can before getting the boot

[@Gaza-vu6gl]

@@kanedNunablethey have the Rwanda plan also. Give 300 million to the Rwanda government. Is that a plan? Disgraceful

[@Near_Void]

If Sunak can become PM, so can I

[@Rachel_M_]

I'd vote for you. Can't be any worse than the shower we get.

[@chris-vn6sw]

Sunak ! Unelected !! Unelectable !!! 😡

[@Cherrytune386]

Only went for the job to impress his father in law

[@Ayeright.]

​@@Cherrytune386To get his father-in-law a $1.5 billion dollar contract. And the other paltry millions of pounds for his wife's interests.

[@xtrapolis954m]

This has been Rishi Sunak’s worst week in politics since last week.

[@childofthe60s100]

Next week could be even worse......in all likelihood.

[@PADABOUM]

Rishi Sunak has promised a reduction in net migration, the only way he found to do that was to move his family away during the summer.

[@johnrussell3961]

It was coming down naturally . All the EU workers who left will soon be replaced. Like inflatuin coming down….nothing to do with him.

[@ru76224]

I don't think Little Rishi Soonak will remain in the uk, he will move on in the next 5 years, possibly to the US.

[@f56yn25]

Perhaps Sunak got a start date on a new job in the US and had to call the election on the 4th July as he starts on the following Monday.

[@twofoursevenbeauty]

Lol!

[@kanedNunable]

my thoughts, rishi was gonna get kicked as leader so he threw a tantrum and called an election.

[@catherinemartin6258]

It’s all about the money

[@peterflynn9123]

The penny finally drops. Staggering criminal incompetence

[@krishnagondhea7428]

Called the GE because he was fed up of the pressure

[@Music-oi2nf]

@@krishnagondhea7428 or because he has other plans with his life, Farty Breath.

[@LesHentschel-hk2hd]

If he thought he was going to be pushed he may have thought I'll take them with me.

[@jumpingalaxies951]

I was not expecting the comedy sized mug, actual satire levels of absurdity - love it.

[@digglerdudeuk]

Never mind a master plan, they have no plan.

[@martinaustin5316]

I think most tories thought he would go for an election later in the year and they thought they had time to get rid of him, but he thwarted it by going for an early election. He jumped before he was pushed and decided to take down the party with him.

[@PersonalPariah]

The "f&£k it" approach to election management.

[@paulwalpole6103]

His party wasn't surprised, they were just too busy at the bookies.

[@Gary-le7dz]

Sunaks “ plan “ is just to keep saying the word plan

[@Raymondcross-u8w]

He panicked.

[@michaelbraxner7781]

Not sure about a fitting German expression. Anyway, Sunak's tactical thinking strikes me more like a mix of "Pinky & The Brain" and "Iznogoud" ... "I have a Plaaaann ... One day I SHALL be Caliph instead of the Caliph".

[@KaiColloquoun-gt7kw]

Emmanuel Macron's election call is on same level as Cameron's referendum "bluff call" . Incidentally, emacron anagram = cameron.

[@ashroskell]

I always thought it was Sunak’s response to a plot for yet another no confidence vote. I think it was an emotional, prideful, angry response to plotters.

[@PaulJames-x8d]

He called it because hes no more ideas for fooling the public, he knows what we think of him

[@paulbishop6013]

Best odds for betting purposes that's why he called the election !

[@douglasbutler6072]

100% hit the nail on the head. He is under so much pressure he made the only decision he could make.

[@thetruth156real3]

Same reason the Titanic Captain resigned his responsibilities but at least he went down with the ship.

[@stevenhoward3358]

Sunak sent Johnny Mercer to interrupt Mr Drake's game of bowls so he could help out with combatting the armada approaching Dover.

[@davepaterson935]

I kind-a get it. During my time in industry I had a maxim that never let me down: 'Front-load your grief'! It's never easy, but the longer you leave it the harder (the worse) it gets.

[@shauncorless8965]

Because the betting had gone to 5/4 for July 😮

[@100wattplexi]

That's a BIG MUG!

[@vicredshaw1155]

Don't be mean , James can't help the size of his face .

[@rebeloverlay]

Blimey, does O'Brian's coffee mug get bigger and bigger? Is he taking the pi**?

[@TimThat]

😂

[@kevino2622]

There were threats of another vote of no confidence and he (as has been seen on TV) responded like a petulant child and decided to press the self destruct button on his party just out of spite

[@kevino2622]

"WELL IF I CAN'T BE PM... NOBODY CAN!!.... GENERAAAAAAAALLLLL EEEEEEEEEELECTIOOOOOONNNN"

[@childofthe60s100]

That is a slur on Sunak!!!! He had no plan - he never has a plan and he never had a plan. See how successful the Rwanda "plan" was!!

[@oulton101]

He did not want to miss his summer holidays...by staying in Number 10

[@daveflower8169]

July was the best odds at the bookies😂

[@philiptaylor7902]

I'd go along with the Graham Brady hypothesis, particularly after the bruising local election results and by-election losses.

[@davidgreen6490]

This will be the last GE with Labour and the Tories as the duopoly..

[@red88ization]

it's simple with the compound problems of Ukraine and Russia and the likely outcome that it will end in a conflict with NATO and the internal immigration and economic fallout after the covid crisis he's getting out now let labour take the hit when it all comes crashing down and step back in to take control again unfortunately he did not account for reform

[@craiginboro679]

Rishi's plan was "keep hold of the hand grenade." He sensed a coup and pulled out the pin. However I don't think he realises how far his inner sanctum was infiltrated hence the catastrophic photo ops etc. he's definitely been sabotaged by some faction, could Cummings be behind it?

[@firesidefairytale]

Camilla 😊

[@LimitBreaker-lb6md]

Everything aside! Tell me how i can buy that huge customized mug

[@Alcagaur1]

"I did that thing that the Germans probably have a word for" is a spectacular preamble - the multiverse awaits.

[@mollyluvsrocknroll]

2:21 that is an ENORMOUS mug!

[@vicredshaw1155]

Nah , James is actually tiny .

[@harveybrown37]

Indian Trade Deal done. Off I pop.

[@harveybrown37]

@AnishSamanta-zx6ev One of the main companies with an interest in securing more temporary visas to the UK is Infosys - the huge global leader in digital services and consulting co-founded by Akshata Murthy’s father NR Narayana Murthy. Although Akshata has only a 0.93% holding in the company, it is still worth £481.2m and accounted for the vast majority of the Sunak family’s wealth when the Sunday Times published its 2023 Rich List in May.

[@childofthe60s100]

@AnishSamanta-zx6ev Don't you follow the political news???

[@brianferguson7840]

A Recession is when your neighbour loses his job ! A Depression is when you lose your job ! Recovery is when the Tories lose theirs !🤣🤣🤣

[@GregOrCreg]

Brilliant. I'll remember to use that one!

[@kay.p3895]

Could have waited for the food prices to go down, gas and electric bills to go down, NI go down by £900, Rwanda flights to take off. Without all these happening, it's the same old political lies. Who advises him?

[@abazely2743]

Could it be that Boris's book comimg out in the Autumn decided the GE date.

[@TheJase8566]

He did well calling it when he did. Looking at how hot it is, by August people will be hot and angry. By calling it early July the Tories avoid hot and angry people rioting on their watch.

[@GPR111]

To the original title question.... he made a colossal error of judgement. I am lifelong tory voter and cant wait to now see them out of office.

[@samuelaubrey2612]

Boris.... Truss and then Sunak.... 🤣🤣 Vermin... All of them

[@picaso023]

Most people feel like they're stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to voting

[@childofthe60s100]

Not while Reform are there - worth a try, to "see how it goes". It CANNOT be worse than the last 14 years and the Blair years.

[@michaelmccarthy9411]

I think you're all over thinking this. I'm pretty sure he just had enough!

[@stevenhoward3358]

By all the metrics which the tories measure themselves against each other, puts Sunak at the pinnacle. King grifter. Instead the tories need a manager who can corral the personalities, massage their egos and deflect criticism from them, a grey man. Someone like John Major...

[@wayneford2481]

YOU WILL BE VERY LUCKY TO FIND A DENTIST . MY SON FOUND ONE BUT HAD TO GO PRIVATE ROUT CANAL £1.000 PLUS OR £800 TO PULL IT OUT.

[@jameswilliamson7140]

is there a story i've missed behind james' mug?

[@JoyoSnooze]

Natural leader of a company. Never a country.

[@Traceva]

Mad, Scared and Stressed Makes sense! It also why Rishi Sunak projects these emotions on to others and wants us to get Angry, to become Fearful and to become even more stressed out than we already are

[@kenmay1572]

I recon Sir Graham Brady tipped him off that he had nearly enough NC letters and felt that he would have sufficient way before the Autumn

[@Tom_murray89]

The tories have had no plan over the last 14 years apart from to hurt the vulnerable

[@RobCarraviation]

OK I have 2 questions right now - 1. How big is James O'B's mug?! and 2. @LBC can I get one! 🥺

[@knightofnii4659]

He wanted to avoid the obvious failure of the Rwanda ( Plan??). Too many eggs in that basket.

[@Abdulisms]

He picked July 4th to get ahead of the school year. If he wins he stays and so do the kids. If he loses it's done in enough time to register them elsewhere during the summer holiday. Likely in the states

[@richardwadd9769]

Rishi “Soon-axed”.

[@geomia66]

He has a cunning plan Baldrick! 😮

[@James-b7p2k]

Because they were all on at 6/1

[@berosmith9041]

That first caller sounds likes like Rory Stewart.

[@StrykezMan09]

This isn't sympathy or anything but I can't help but think that Sunak's been made the fall guy. He's paying for all the missteps of his predecessors but oh well, a Tory is a Tory and they need to face the consequences 😂

[@robwalker9282]

Boris's disney film.. the lying King

[@An-Alien-On-Earth]

Why is the channel so anti Tory? Think I'll report to offcom

[@daviddunmore8415]

I think it's damage limitation, the Rwanda 'plan' fails when they can't get flights and small boats keep on coming. And who knows how many other scandals lay just round the corner. And that's disregarding the letters to the 1922.

[@MightyCraicDJ]

Sunak wanted to call the election early before Reform got organised with candidates

[@beastbbq5374]

In my opinion I think that Sunak called the election because at the time inflation (which while he was in power did not reduce the cost of living at all - look at the figures within the UK) was at the lowest point during his run-time and he went for that inflation factor. As well as the Rwanda flights not taking off that was planned - in which Rishi (in my opinion) knew wouldn't work. Rishi has done more damage to his own seat and his party during this election than any other party influence (such as Reform and Labour). At the current point of the election all the Tories are doing is scare-mongering the public with a Labour super-majority, when the Tories had this super-majority for the last 14 years...

[@stephenhill545]

The German word is Blindganger.

[@meddylad]

People only make snap decisions when they know that if they don't act now, they are scr3wed. My guess is that Sunak thought he was about to be ousted, so took the plunge

[@colincomber8027]

Imagine losing too Liz Truss !

[@jonathanfell688]

All of the above. It's not down to one or even two things. Ambition. He's been Heady Boy, that's enough.

[@davesy6969]

The French farmers are already having regrets about supporting the far right because they lost two of their best advocates in the EU parliament.

[@milamber82]

He had a bet on.

[@12bigredd]

lol fear lol thats why he called it he knew they were going to unseat him. he done it out of spite to his own members lol

[@IanMorrison-y3z]

He probably had a bet on it being that day.

[@stuartmelville5684]

no one mentions his wife does anyone think she has/had influence on his decisions i personally think so in the dead of night cuddled up to the wife may of been when it got decided i think he made the right decision best to move on now than drag the pain out longer

[@drrun1766]

To sow activety perspective 😮😮😮

[@busterbuster1641]

Anyone actually believe little Rishi will stay in the UK when he is turfed out July 5th? His kids will be off to Cali Aug 6th

[@ericritchie6783]

... Maybe the plan was not to bring in an even more neo-liberal Labour government to consolidate the precedent of austerity just like the first new Labour gov consolidated neo liberal ideology in general. One party moves the Overton window the other only has to act within that framing to seem relatively acceptablem

[@1953mr]

Of course there wasn't a plan or a campaign. The idea was to say nothing. The moment anyone spoke we would be reminded of the past 14 years. Ssshhh say nothing and rely on amnesia.... That was the plan....

[@Ekmu5]

That's a huge mug!!!!

[@bertfarry3793]

I believe Ol Richy Rich wants out of his job