Next election date: Should we read anything into this internal party memo?

Everyone’s favourite game is trying to work out the date of the next general election – and an internal Labour document shared with LabourList may spark some fresh speculation about exactly when voters will next go to the polls.

A graphic on a document shared with the party’s national executive committee this week, seen by LabourList, mapped out the upcoming local, mayoral and general elections from this year up until 2029.

While lists of local elections are placed in the middle of their corresponding year, the bubble for the general election is notably positioned hovering over the latter half of 2028 and early 2029.

We’ve got out our measuring tape so you don’t have to. Our less-than-scientific assessment is that if you do take the spacing very literally – a big if – then Labour could be considering going as early as late May 2028…

Intriguingly, the election box also only runs far enough to nominally cover an election as late as June 2029, when the government has until August 21st.

The decision on when to call the general election is entirely up to the Prime Minister, following the repeal of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, and unlikely in practice to be finalised  until much closer to the end of the Parliament by a tiny group of senior figures.

On the one hand, if party officials have even the faintest suspicion the election could be in 2028, perhaps it makes sense to give a gentle hint to Labour’s governing body that the party could need to be on an electoral footing earlier than widely assumed.

On the other, the campaign is a long way off yet –  and the drip of leaks from past national executive committee meetings over the years would give officials reason enough to hold back on sharing such details. There’s a reason leaders typically keep such decision-making to the tightest, smallest of groups.

READ MORE: Revealed: Party set to flout rulebook by shelving equality reforms over ‘£3m cost’

What’s more, in an interview with Politico in January, Keir Starmer seemed to quash speculation of an early election, appearing signal that the next one would not come before the middle of 2029.

He said: “We are now four and a half years before the next election. I remind myself that four and a half years ago, Boris Johnson was Prime Minister with very high ratings and most commentators were saying he’s going to be Prime Minister for the next ten years.

“I am a great believer in taking each step as it comes, facing each challenge as it comes, keeping my eye on the long term and not getting distracted by the noises off.”

The Labour Party has been approached for comment.

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