Polls suggest the Conservative Party will lose power after 14 years, as the U.K. heads into a six-week election campaign.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised the public, the media and politicians with a national election date of July 4.Financial markets have largely factored in a change of government this year, and seem"sympathetic" to the idea of a Labour government, analysts said.
"I think it is clear that while there is work to do and people are only just starting to feel the benefits, we have turned a corner and brought economic stability back," Sunak said.Bronwen Maddox, director of Chatham House think tank, said the election date had shocked many Conservatives who thought it would be held nearer to the U.S. election in November.
Labour is now expected to become laser-focused on slamming the Conservatives' 14-year legacy and on their own ability to maintain fiscal discipline, Maddox said, while keeping their "Whatever happens it definitely will be a historic election," Hannah Bunting, lecturer in quantitative British politics at the University of Exeter and co-director of its Elections Centre, told CNBC's"Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday.
"I'm not 100% convinced on that just yet, because we've had local voting recently ... and while the Conservatives did very badly in those, the real winners there were smaller parties and independents rather than Labour. So if that translates to a general election as well, then that Labour landslide is looking much less certain."While the election news rattled the political establishment, it failed to have much impact on markets.
The British pound's reaction was also muted, moving slightly higher against the U.S. dollar and lower against the euro.
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