Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of delaying the general election until the end of the year out of “vanity”.
The prime minister has said he plans to go to the country in the “second half” of 2024.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, Starmer accused Sunak of simply wanting to be able to say he was in No.10 for two years.
“I want the election to be as soon as possible. We are ready for it,” the Labour leader said.
“If he had a plan he would set the date. And he should set the date. At the moment it is very hard to see how him continuing in government improves the lives of anybody in the country.
Starmer added: “I can’t help feeling that all he really wants to do is get two years clocked up of his own premiership and that means he is putting vanity before country.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, Sunak said he was going to “stick to the plan” because it was “starting to work”.
“I genuinely believe we’ve turned a corner,” he said. “The country is now pointing in the right direction.”
Sunak’s decision last week announce when he wanted to hold the election came amid growing speculation in Westminster could call it for May.
It is now widely expected he will call it for October or November. Sunak became prime minister on October 25, 2022, which means a November election is more likely if he wants to pass the two-year mark.
John Curtice, one of the country’s leading election experts, has pinpointed November 14 as the most likely date.