Sheffield Hallam Uni politics lecturer: Tories will struggle to retain power in General Election
Jon Dean tells us he thinks it's Labour's to lose from here
The prime minister has announced a general election for the 4th of July - describing it as a moment for voters to choose their future.
Rishi Sunak admitted the Conservatives have made mistakes but says there's been progress on the economy, education, and defence.
Jon Dean is a lecturer in politics at Sheffield Hallam Uni.
He expected a general election to be called later in the year, but can see why the Prime Minister has decided to act now:
"I think the news that inflation had come down to 2.3% yesterday meant that Rishi Sunak probably thought it was a good time to go to the polls, as they have a relatively good message about the economy to try & sell to people.
"The Conservatives will argue that through their action, they've started to get the economy under control through Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.
"Labour will argue that a large part of the cost-of-living crisis was down to Conservative incompetence, including Liz Truss' disastorous mini-budget that pushed people's mortgages up.
"I think Labour have this pretty much in the bag - they'll just be hoping to avoid any shocks in the next six weeks or so."
The Prime Minister's top team spent yesterday rescheduling their plans to attend an unusually timed Cabinet meeting to be briefed on developments.