Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a surprise general election for 4 July dominates newspaper front pages on Thursday, with the image of the rain soaked prime minister making his announcement outside No 10 proving to be a wellspring for headline writers.
The Guardian characterises the move as “Sunak’s big gamble”, and notes that his words were met with alarm by senior Tories who are concerned that the party – trailing 20 percentage points behind Labour in the polls – could face electoral wipeout.