The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a July 4 general election in a statement outside Downing Street.
After discussing the Covid pandemic, the furlough scheme, and the war in Ukraine, he said the question is "who do you trust?"
Sunak said he's proud of what his government has achieved, including on NHS spending and education.
The PM revealed the date in a rain-soaked Downing Street speech, as Labour's 1997 election anthem 'Things Can Only Get Better' blared from a nearby street.
The Labour leader Keir Starmer said the election is the "moment the country's been waiting for."
And he said with "patience and determination" there is "so much pride and potential to unlock" in the UK.
What happens next in parliament?
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed parliament will now be prorogued, or closed for business at the end of this week.
That means there is just one, or possibly one-and-a-half, days of what's known as "wash-up", which is when the government can try to get Bills through in backroom deals before the official business session ends.
This very short period could give enough time for Sunak to get his Tobacco and Vapes Bill to pass as it's likely to form part of his political legacy. But other Bills still in progress will "fall", meaning they'll be ditched by MPs at this point.
Calling the general election now means the next parliamentary recess, which was MPs' next holiday period and was due to start next week, is now cancelled as campaigning officially begins.
Parliament will then be dissolved on Thursday 30 May, which gives the legally necessary 25 working days until polling day on Thursday 4 July.
The prime minister needs to request permission from the King for their general election schedule.
We now know that Sunak met the King at Buckingham Palace for a private 15 minute meeting ahead of his 5pm speech on Downing Street.
Greens say they'll focus on 'practical solutions'
The Green Party has set out how they'll offer voters "practical solutions to the crises facing the country".
Co-leader Carla Denyer, who'll be standing to become MP for Bristol Central, said a July election was "the chance to vote for a different vision of what our country can be".
She added: "By reforming our tax system to make it fairer – including a tax on the super-rich billionaires and multi-millionaires – we would raise £50 billion to invest in our NHS, warmer homes and cleaner rivers.”
Co-leader Adrian Ramsay, who is the party's parliamentary candidate for Waveney Valley, said Greens hoped to get four MPs elected "to hold the government to account".
The Greens veteran MP Caroline Lucas, first elected in 2010 and the party's only MP, is standing down from her Brighton Pavilion seat this election.
Former co-leader and Green London Assembly member Sian Berry hopes to take up the role in her stead.
This is an election for Labour to lose - Curtice
Let's bring you the thoughts of election guru Prof Sir John Curtice who has been talking on BBC Radio 5 Live and giving his thoughts on Rishi Sunak's announcement.
“He’s decided to call the election early. Whether he’s doing so in the hope of victory or whether he’s throwing in the towel will be the subject of comment and speculation over the next 24 hours,” Curtice says.
"Rishi Sunak is calling on his actions in the pandemic - he’s wanting voters to accept that stability.
"On the other hand, Sir Keir Starmer is saying, 'You want stability, the kind the Conservatives have not been able to offer you - to get that stability you need to change the government'.
“The SNP have just changed their leader, they’re in political trouble, they’re now five or six points behind Labour in the opinion polls - this could well mean Labour getting 30 seats north of the border and the SNP a dozen or so.
"Rishi Sunak is giving Labour this opportunity.”
“This is an election for Labour to lose. Starmer’s task is to hang on to the support the party has.”
We're ready, says Reform leader Richard Tice
Reform Party leader Richard Tice posted a video on social media telling voters "we're ready" for a July general election.
Attacking the prime minister's rain-soaked announcement, he said: "What a scene - the PM drenched in rain, drowned out by the boogie-blaster of Steve Bray, no less, highlighting the utter incompetence of this Conservative government."
He claimed the Tories have "broken Britain", while Labour would bring "Starmergeddon" and only Reform could "save Britain".
The party currently has one MP following Lee Anderson's defection from the Conservatives in March.
BBC