The chancellor has hinted that the next general election could be held in October during a parliamentary meeting. 

Jeremy Hunt told a House of Lords committee that the next spending review had to be completed before next April and "if the general election is in October that will mean it's very, very tight".

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a general election on the same day that Cumbrians go to the polls to elect the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC).

Cumbrians will go and vote in large numbers for the first time since 2021 on May 2 but the prime minister has ruled out calling a general election on that date.

Speaking to ITV News West Country, Mr Sunak said "There won't be a general election on that day but when there is a general election, what matters is the choice."

Speculation has been rife in Westminster over when Mr Sunak will call an election after he confirmed that the next general election would be this year.

The latest possible date he can call an election is January 28 next year following the most recent election in December 2019 which the Conservatives won by a landslide.

On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s values are “not those of the British people” after the Labour leader accused him of being “scared” to call an election.

Mr Sunak said his “working assumption” remains that a general election will take place in the second half of the year, following taunts by Sir Keir at the beginning of Prime Minister’s Questions.

After the Prime Minister said the wait means Sir Keir has “got time to come up with a plan for Britain”, the Labour leader replied: “We are ready. Just call it.”

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The Labour Party are set to win all of the seats in Cumbria according to the last set of polling data.

Labour have moved ahead of the Conservative Party in the polls over the course of the last two years and are on track for a substantial majority in the commons if a general election were held today according to online analyst ‘Election Maps UK’.

The latest projections would see Labour win the new seats of Carlisle, Penrith and the Solway and Whitehaven and Workington following boundary changes in Cumbria.