UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a snap general election for July 4th.

Mr. Sunak was required to hold a vote by January 2025, and had long resisted calls to be specific about his plans.

A fall in inflation rates, announced today, provided the backdrop for the announcement, which was made outside Downing Street in the rain.

The decision fires the starting gun on a six-week campaign that, currently, is almost universally expected to conclude in the demise of Mr. Sunak’s Conservative government.