The PM will battle for his political life as millions take to the polls at the height of British Summer time.
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He will take on Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour Party in what is set to be a historic fight for the keys to No10.
An announcement from Downing St will take place in just hours.
As things stand, Sir Keir is on track for victory at the election.
Labour is currently polling at 44 per cent, with the Tories trailing behind at 23.
Reform UK are third most popular on 11 per cent while the Lib Dems are sitting one point behind on 10.
Why go now?
By NOA HOFFMAN, Political Correspondent
RISHI Sunak’s No10 team will have determined that right now the political landscape is as good as it’s going to get for the Tories.
The PM’s advisors will have also been keen to avoid a “summer of chaos” that could sink Conservative election hopes even further.
There’s a sizeable chance no flights to Rwanda will be ready to take off over summer as promised – an embarrassing blow for Mr Sunak.
And the Treasury are likely to have determined there simply isn’t room for major tax cuts in an Autumn Statement, previously intended as a pre-election sweetener.
With the small win of inflation hitting 2.3 per cent, now will be seen as the “least bad” option for calling an election.
That way huge issues including small boats, NHS waiting lists and a weak economy will become the problem of whoever forms the next government.
The announcement of an election came after a day of high drama in Westminster.
The rumour mill began spinning in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
No10 sources initially played down talk of a major statement from the PM. But by mid-morning they’d gone underground.
At PMQs Mr Sunak refused to rule out naming a date and in the early afternoon a Downing St spokesperson wouldn’t budge on ruling out any move.
After taking the unusual step of hosting a Wednesday afternoon Cabinet the ground was laid for a major speech.
The timing of the announcement came as the Office for National Statistics confirmed inflation hit 2.3% today.
Mr Sunak hailed the figure as a “major moment for the economy” and vowed that vowed that “brighter days are ahead”.
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation stood at 2.3% in April according to fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is down from 3.2% in March and marks the lowest level since July 2021.
The data shows inflation is now closer towards the Bank of England’s 2% target.
It comes just a day after the IMF (International Monetary Fund) upgraded UK growth for this year and forecast the economy will grow faster than any other large European country over the next six years.
Meanwhile, food price inflation saw further falls over the year, although these were partially offset by a small uptick in petrol prices.
CPI food inflation edged down to 2.9% in April from 4% in March – much lower than its peak of almost 20% in the spring of 2023.
Trumpeting the fall in inflation today, the PM said: “Today marks a major moment for the economy, with inflation back to normal.
“This is proof that the plan is working and that the difficult decisions we have taken are paying off.
“Brighter days are ahead, but only if we stick to the plan to improve economic security and opportunity for everyone.”