Sir Keir Starmer is pushing for an early general election because he knows “things are starting to get better” for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives, a senior Tory MP has claimed. 

Sir Robert Goodwill, a former minister and the chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, said the economy was “improving” and that was starting to worry the Labour leader. 

He told GB News: “I would say that Rishi isn’t dithering, he’s actually delivering and people will get the [national insurance] tax cut at the end of this month. We’ve got the Budget coming up, which hopefully we’ll get some more tax cuts there, and you can now, I’m told, get a fixed rate mortgage at four per cent.

 “Because we’ve got on top of inflation, interest rates are coming down and that looks like a sustainable position. I think the economy is improving and I think that’s what worries Starmer, that’s why he wants an election so soon, because he knows things are starting to get better.”

Mr Sunak announced yesterday that it was his “working assumption” that the next general election will be held in the second half of 2024. Sir Keir challenged the Prime Minister to hold the contest sooner and accused Mr Sunak of “squatting” in No10.

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