The Guardian view on the general election: countdown to a reckoning that is overdue

‘On the doorstep of Downing Street, Mr Sunak could not present his party’s prospectus for a fifth term as anything other than more of the same.’ Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

When Britain last held a general election, the country was still a member of the European Union, there had been no pandemic and the Conservatives had already been in power for nearly a decade. That now feels like a long time ago, but not because of any sense of progress or accomplishments by the government. Quite the opposite.

Fear of taking punishment for years of accumulated disappointment is the reason why Rishi Sunak has postponed the dissolution of parliament until now. The prime minister’s decision to set a date – the election will be on 4 July – is driven not by confidence in a record to celebrate, but by a recognition that procrastination had become untenable. The Conservative party, exhausted and riven by factional feuding, has become ungovernable, leaving the country feeling ungoverned.