The prime minister has called a general election for 4 July. It means parliament only has a few days to pass any bills still waiting to become law before MPs leave Westminster to begin campaigning.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson gets the very latest from our deputy political editor Sam Coates and political correspondent Tamara Cohen on why the election was announced today, and what the next six weeks of campaigning could have in store.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Rishi Sunak has called a general election for this summer.

The prime minister has been saying for months he would call a vote for the "second half of the year", and he has now confirmed it will be on 4 July.

Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, Mr Sunak had until 17 December this year to call an election - as votes must be held no more than five years apart.

Our political reporter Alix Culbertson explains what happens now:

With the general election set for 4 July, political parties are wasting no time in launching their campaigns, with the Conservatives kicking things off in east London last night.

But this is only the very beginning, with far more taking place today as the six-week election period formally begins.

The prime minister will today tour broadcast studios before embarking on a two-day whistlestop trip taking in all four nations of the UK.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will head to south-east England in a sign he wants to make inroads in Tory areas.

In London, Reform UK's leader Richard Tice will stage a press conference setting out his party's plans.

The party's most high-profile figure, honorary president Nigel Farage, said he was thinking about whether to return to frontline politics by standing in the July 4 election.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to visit a target seat as he launches a campaign expected to focus on targeting Conservative-held seats following a series of eye-catching by-election successes.

We'll have all the latest right here in the Politics Hub - stay tuned.

Good morning!

The date is set - and the tooth-and-nail fight for the keys to Number 10 will accelerate today as we head towards the 4 July general election.

This six-week race begins today, with political parties gearing up to make their campaign launches after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged himself as the "man with a plan" yesterday.

Here's what you need to know about the election today:

• After firing the election starting gun in the rain on Downing Street, and launching the Conservative election campaign in east London last night, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will today kick off a two-day whistle-stop tour of the UK;
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will head to south-east England in a sign he wants to make inroads in Tory areas, as he kicks off his party's election campaign today;
  
• In London, Reform UK's leader Richard Tice will stage a press conference setting out his party's plans;
  
• The party's most high-profile figure, honorary president Nigel Farage, has said he was thinking about whether to return to frontline politics by standing in the 4 July election;
  
• The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is today expected to visit a target seat in Cheltenham as he too launches his party's campaign.
  

And in other news...

• Net legal migration data will be published by the government today, and it is thought the numbers will be down - but still higher than ministers would want;
• Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron will give a speech at the London Defence Conference this morning, after returning home early from Albania for the election announcement;
• And the UK's top civil servant, Simon Case, will give evidence to the COVID inquiry about his scathing views of Boris Johnson's pandemic-era government.

We'll be discussing all this and more with:

• Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, at 8.45am;
• Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper.

Stick with us for all the latest political news throughout the day.

Earlier this evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared outside Downing Street to call a general election for 4 July.

In his speech, he reminisced about his early days in the job, and pointed to all the Conservative "successes", before pitching himself as the man with a plan for the UK's future.

In case you missed it, you can watch his statement in full here:

By Professor Michael Thrasher, Sky News election analyst

The electoral geography of the UK is changing.

Following the recommendations of independent Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the next UK general election - which Sky News understands will be on 4 July - will be fought on new constituency boundaries, replacing those in operation since 2010.

This is the sixth periodic review to be implemented since the war. The next review is not scheduled until October 2031.

Exploring how this movement of voters affects the political makeup of the House of Commons is a task that Colin Rallings and myself have been doing over the past thirty years following previous boundary adjustments.

There are winners and losers in different parts of the UK - read the full analysis here:

As the football season comes to an end - the general election battle is just beginning.

And it's the crossover you didn't know you needed - Sky's Kay Burley kicks out David Jones, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher from the Monday Night Football studio.

Below, she gives you a first look at our Election Night Live studio, our home for when the results come in from across the United Kingdom.

Have a sneak peak below:

By Becky Johnson, communities correspondent

"Stop the boats" has become one of the phrases we hear most from this government.

The pledge to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel has become central to Rishi Sunak's premiership.

At vast expense and despite numerous legal challenges the plans are on track, according to the home secretary, for first flights to take off within weeks.

Yet since the Rwanda bill became law there is no sign yet that the numbers crossing the Channel are falling. In fact, record numbers continue to cross.

It meant waiting until the autumn was too risky for the government. What if, by then, regular flights to Rwanda were taking off, but small boat arrival numbers still hadn't fallen? 

Ministers would face the accusation that their central policy on curbing illegal migration had failed. It's hard to see how they could persuade the public otherwise.

A July election, the government will hope, will hit a sweet spot. 

Read the full analysis below:

It's been a historic day in Westminster - four years and five months since the last general election, we now know that the next one will be held on Thursday, 4 July.

Here are some photos from today:

All photos: PA

The prime minister has called a general election for 4 July. It means parliament only has a few days to pass any bills still waiting to become law before MPs leave Westminster to begin campaigning.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson gets the very latest from our deputy political editor Sam Coates and political correspondent Tamara Cohen on why the election was announced today, and what the next six weeks of campaigning could have in store.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈