Two main General Election candidates in Harrogate react to Prime Minister's shock announcement of July 4 date

While sitting Tory MP Andrew Jones told the Harrogate Advertiser voters should not take a risk on Sir Keir Starmer as “the economy had turned a corner”, his Liberal Democrat rival Tom Gordon said the General Election was a chance to remove the “out-of-touch Conservatives” and deliver real change for the better.

After Rishi Sunak’s surprise announcement, many political commentators argued that calling a snap General Election had been “a huge gamble” in the context of opinion polls consistently showing The Tories trailing Labour by more than 20 points.

Tory officials said the PM had made his decision after talking with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and coming to the conclusion there was no point holding out until the autumn in the hope of better economic news.

Mr Jones, who is hoping to win in Harrogate and Knaresborough for the fifth time in a row, believes he is the truly local candidate and the election is simply a choice between The Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

“On July 5 we will wake up with Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister or Keir Starmer. No other outcome is possible,” said Mr Jones.

“I am standing again to be Harrogate and Knaresborough’s MP.

"I have lived here since the last century.

"I have been a local councillor here.

"I worked in business here.

"I have a long-term track record of action and delivery in our community.

"My principal opponents cannot match that local record.

"One has been a councillor in Newcastle, was a councillor In Wakefield as recently as last year and has stood for Parliament twice already in other seats. The other is a councillor in York.

“Nationally the choice has become clearer as the economy has turned a corner.

"We build on that progress or we risk it all on a Labour party with no plan for our future and no policies.

"There has only ever been a Labour Prime Minister when Harrogate and Knaresborough has elected anyone other than a Conservative."

But his biggest opponent for the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat, Lib Dem Tom Gordon, has been buoyed by opinion polls in recent months predicting Mr Jones will lose his seat at the General Election.

Tom Gordon said: “This election will be a once-in-a-generation chance to kick the Conservatives out of power and finally deliver the change our area so desperately needs.

"The Liberal Democrats are on the up after beating the Conservatives at the inaugural North Yorkshire Council local elections in Harrogate and Knaresborough, and winning four stunning parliamentary by-election victories.

“It’s clear that only the Lib Dems can beat the Conservatives in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

"People are telling me on the doorstep they are fed up with years of chaos and neglect under successive Conservative Prime Ministers.

“After years of struggling to get GP and dental appointments, soaring rents and mortgages and our rivers being polluted by filthy sewage, it’s time for change.

"But it’s going to be neck and neck here and every vote will count.

"If elected MP, I will stand up for local health services, tackle the sewage scandal and be a strong voice for our community in Parliament.”