News | Politics I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice . Britons will soon take to the polls to decide who will lead the country in an election that was called unexpectedly early on July 4.
It was at first expected that the general election – which had to take place no later than January 2025 – would be called in the latter part of 2024 but there was one man in the heart of the Government who wanted to get going earlier. Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden reported urged Rishi Sunak to call an election sooner rather than later. Opinion polls were showing the Conservatives were at a record low, and Mr Dowden was understood to have taken the view that a vote should be held sooner before the party struggled more.
Sources said Mr Dowden was among those to have expressed this view because of concerns the party could be wiped out if the election was called too late. But, as the campaigning heats up, what do we know about the deputy prime minister? Oliver Dowden has been the MP for Hertsmere in Hertfordshire since 2015. He is the deputy prime minister.
He grew up near Watford and he said he had an “excellent state education”, attending a comprehensive school before reading law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. His father worked at a factory and his mother at Boots. Before becoming an MP, Mr Dowden worked for PR firm Hill & Knowlton and as former prime minister David Cameron ’s deputy chief of staff.
He was appoin.