Rishi Sunak rules out 2 May general election as report shows Commons working hours fallen to a 25-year low – UK politics live

The average time the Commons spends sitting every working day is now at lowest level for quarter of a century

Good morning. Rishi Sunak has ruled out calling a general election on 2 May. This is no great surprise to anyone working in Westminster (despite what the Labour party claims), but worth knowing anyway, particularly for journalists with holiday plans for April. Here is the clip.

Sunak does not have to call an election until January next year and in normal circumstances a prime minister could defend putting off polling day on the grounds the government still has plenty of legislation to pass.

The average duration of a Commons sitting day in the current parliamentary session, which began in November, has been 7 hours and 9 minutes, a record low since New Labour came to power in 1997, the FT found …

On Tuesday last week the Commons adjourned at 3.53pm, while on one Monday earlier this month almost five hours were dedicated to an unfocused “general debate on farming”, critics pointed out …

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