Rishi Sunak has revealed the General Election will take place on Thursday, July 4.

The Prime Minister made the announcement today in Downing Street after a cabinet meeting.

The date finally ends months of speculation that it could be in the Autumn as the Tories trail Labour in the opinion polls.

Sunak said: “We will have a General Election on the fourth of July".

He added: "Over the next few weeks I will fight for every vote."

Speaking in heavy rain at a lectern outside Ten Downing Street, he reflected on his time as Chancellor introducing the furlough scheme during Covid before he became Prime Minister.

He added: "Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future".

Sunak said: "On the 5th of July, either Keir Starmer or I will be Prime Minister."

He said he came to office to restore "economic stability" and said milestones had been reached in achieving that.

Speculation had been growing all day that there would be an announcement after a number of Cabinet ministers cancelled media appointments and Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, travelled back from a visit to Albania earlier than expected.

For months the Prime Minister had been stating his intention was there would be an election in the second half of the year.

Currently, the Tories have 344 MPs, Labour 205, and the SNP 43.

It means there will be a General Election during the school summer holidays in Scotland when many people will already have booked holiday plans.

The Tories will go into the six-week campaign widely expected to lose heavily with the latest polls showing the party, which has been in power since 2010, on 23%, with Labour on 44%.

Rishi Sunak is the third Conservative Prime Minister since the last election in December 2019, when Boris Johnson won a majority.

Glasgow will elect six MPs out of 57 across Scotland.

MPs will be chosen by voters in Glasgow East, Glasgow South, Glasgow West, Glasgow North, Glasgow South West and Glasgow North East.

At the last election, five years ago the SNP won all of the then seven seats in the city.

Scottish political leaders reacted to the announcement.

John Swinney, SNP leader and First Minister, said: “I look forward top leading the SNP in this election.

“This is the moment to remove the Tory Government and put Scotland first by voting SNP.

“People in Scotland know we stand up for them and protect them from the damage done by Westminster.”

Douglas Ross, Scottish Conservative leader said: “The Scottish Conservatives are ready to take the fight to the SNP and beat the nationalists in crucial seats up and down Scotland.

“This election in Scotland is a huge opportunity to defeat the SNP and put an end to their obsession with independence for good.”

Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader said: “After 14 years of Tory chaos and failure this is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.

"Scotland is crying out for change and that change is only possible with a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer that is on the side of working people.

“Voting Scottish Labour means booting out this rotten Tory government, maximising Scotland’s influence with Scottish Labour MPs and delivering the change that Scotland needs.”