London (AFP) - UK political leaders kicked off six weeks of campaigning on Thursday, outlining their electoral battle plans before the country goes to the polls in a general election on July 4.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ended months of speculation about the date of the vote in a rain-soaked speech Wednesday outside Downing Street, which some took as an omen for his Conservatives’ chances at the ballot box.

The right-wing Tories, in power since 2010 but battered by Brexit, a slew of scandals and ideological infighting, have consistently trailed the main opposition Labour party in opinion polls for two years.

That gap has widened, prompting many commentators to predict a landslide win for Labour in what would be a remarkable reverse after a heavy defeat for the leftists in 2019.

Soon after Sunak’s speech, a snap Survation poll of voting intentions put Labour on 48 points, its highest since November 2022 and a huge 21 points ahead of the Tories, on 27.

The online poll of more than 1,000 adults on Wednesday and Thursday also found that 43 percent of respondents said Labour leader Keir Starmer would make a better prime minister than Sunak.

Survation said the results were consistent with Labour’s polling throughout 2023 and this year, and with other surveys that have suggested similar results.

The vote – the first to be held in July in the UK since 1945, when Labour won – will be Sunak’s first national electoral test, as he was appointed Tory leader by his own MPs in October 2022.

UK newspapers were virtually unanimous on Thursday in describing Sunak’s decision to go to the polls six months before he has to as a “gamble”.

The 44-year-old former financier toured the airwaves on Thursday morning as he embarked on a two-day whistlestop trip of all four nations in the United Kingdom.

Sunak presented himself as the safe choice in an increasingly dangerous world and trumpeted the Tories as the party of economic stability after inflation fell to under three percent.

“I’m the one that’s prepared to take bold action. I’ve got a clear plan, and that’s how I’ll deliver security for you and your family,” he told the BBC.

Sunak repeated his mantra that Labour was an unknown quantity, accusing Starmer of ideological flip-flopping on policy to curry favour with voters.

- Policies -

After Sunak’s speech, Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer and chief state prosecutor, published a slick election video saying Labour would “stop the chaos” of Conservative rule and “rebuild Britain”.

“If they get another five years they will feel entitled to carry on exactly as they are. Nothing will change,” said Starmer, who was due to campaign in southeast England later Thursday.

Labour also promises economic stability, saying the Tories’ reputation for sound stewardship of the nation’s finances remained stained by former premier Liz Truss’s short-lived tenure.

Sunak replaced Truss after just 49 days, when her tax cut plans spooked financial markets, sinking the pound and increasing mortgage rates as households were already battling higher energy prices.

Starmer has also promised border security efforts to tackle record levels of irregular immigration.

Sunak wants to push on with his pledge to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel, even as his controversial plan to deport failed asylum seekers to Rwanda remains mired in legal challenges.

He conceded Thursday that flights carrying migrants are unlikely to take off before the election.

“If I’m elected, we will get the flights off,” he told LBC.

Parliament will be prorogued on Friday – suspending its current session and formally dissolved next Thursday.

That’s when MPs leave parliament to either stand down or seek reelection, marking the start of the official five-week campaign.

Voting for the 650 parliamentary constituencies in the lower House of Commons is under the “first past the post” system, with results expected on July 5 and a quick turnaround if one party secures a majority of seats.

The new parliament will be summoned to meet on July 9, when a new speaker will be elected and MPs sworn in. The formal State Opening will be on July 17.