"Why did he do it? We were all told it would be the autumn and were hoping that by then we could turn things round. It is very perplexing," said one former minister, frowning. Others said they were simply not ready to fight a campaign and that they couldn't raise the money in time.
It was all too frantic and at the same time too final for some to take. Tearful MPs - mostly Tory - were saying their goodbyes in the lobbies knowing they would not return. Grandees in the Commons were delivering stirring farewell speeches in the chamber after long and august careers, Harriet Harman and Theresa May among them.
At the same time staff were pulling out all the stops, dispatching messages by hand, trying to salvage important legislation that they had been poring over for weeks, months, even years.
Sunak's decision to go to the country on 4 July had created legislative turmoil. It meant parliament would shut down later that day, several weeks earlier than expected.
Some laws that had been passing through their later legislative stages were saved and rammed on to the statute book in double quick time. But others that were not so advanced -including one to stop smoking and another to end no-fault evictions that Sunak had said would form key parts of his legacy - had to be dropped.
In the Lords, peers stood up to bemoan the fact that important laws affecting the City of London had been ditched, at least for the time being.
Tories were dismayed. "It just shows how well No 10 had thought this through," said one senior Conservative MP. "We have been talking about these bills for months. Stopping young people smoking was one of Rishi's things. Now he has killed one of his legacy bills off just in time for the campaign. Brilliant." It was an extraordinary end to the life of a parliament, and in all probability, to 14 years of Tory rule.
This story is from the May 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the May 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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