When should Rishi Sunak call the next British election?

For someoneGDP who values fiscal prudence, Rishi Sunak bears a strong resemblance to Charles Dickens’s Wilkins Micawber. During his tenure as chancellor of the exchequer (and largely owing to the pandemic) public debt ballooned, from 84.5% of to 96%. As prime minister, Mr Sunak’s political strategy seems to be almost pure Micawberism—a hope that something will turn up. Whatever turns up insofar as the economy is concerned is unlikely to be good for the Tories.The latest date that the next general election can be held is in January 2025. But campaigning over the Christmas holidays next year is unlikely to endear the government to voters. Two other options are seen as much more likely. One is to call an election in the autumn of 2024; another is to hold one on the same day as local elections due in early May. The conventional wisdom in Westminster holds that Mr Sunak will want to wait until the autumn, so that the economy has more time to recover and .