Tory MPs didn’t expect a July general election – and now they are rightly furious | Henry Hill

May or October were seen as obvious options, but Sunak's party has plunged into a short campaign without a plan

If the prime minister's announcement of a snap election had been an event in a scripted drama, we might accuse the director of laying it on a little thick. The rain might be justified as pathetic fallacy, but having Things Can Only Get Better blasting on a tinny speaker was a bit over the top.

At least the police finally managed to prevent the song from being played any further. They must have been no less caught off guard than the country - including Tory activists and politicians.

Henry Hill is deputy editor of ConservativeHome