THE Tory party chairman has suggested that the next General Election could be held around April 2024.
Jake Berry, Rossendale and Darwen MP, was quizzed on the date for the upcoming UK-wide ballot during a live recording of the Telegraph’s Chopper Politics podcast on Sunday.
Host Christopher Hope, the newspaper’s associate editor asked Berry what the “rush” was to announce the sweeping tax cuts before they come in next April.
Hope then pondered if it was to “prepare the ground” or get the debate “going” ahead of an election.
Speaking from the Tory party conference in Birmingham, the minister without portfolio replied: “The Prime Minister has been clear we need to deliver, deliver, deliver.
“We have 18 months or so till the next General Election and we had a situation where the economy had anaemic growth.
“We had the highest tax burden for 70 years, and as Conservatives, we believe the way you can kickstart the economy is inject confidence, lower taxes, more business-friendly environment, and we need to get on and do that.”
Berry then asked for the printed version of the Chancellor’s growth plan, which he denied was the party’s new manifesto, and listed several projects he claimed were “stuck in civil service limbo”, adding that the government’s plans would allow them to be delivered.
Hope asked: “You said there’s 18 months to the next election, are you now saying it’s May 2024?”
Berry said: “You’ll have to wait and see, who knows when it will be...”
When Hope pointed out Berry, as party chairman, would likely be the person to know when it will be held, the MP laughed and said: “In the normal course of the electoral calendar it’s 18 months or so away.”
Asked if that was enough time for the government to get the growth they need, following several scathing polls which showed Labour with a record lead over the Tories, Berry admitted: “Look, we’ve got a tough winter ahead and I don’t think any of us should run away from that.”
Berry’s comments come after a disastrous week for the Tory Government following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget announcement.
The pound fell to a record low against the dollar, the Bank of England was forced to intervene and buy up government-backed bonds to stop a collapse of pension funds, and mortgage rates began to soar prompting concern amongst the public.
Several polls showed the Labour party taking a huge lead over the Tories if a General Election was called soon, with many top Tories including Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Alister Jack and Douglas Ross in line to lose their seats.
