Revealed: Key battle grounds after Rishi Sunak calls snap election

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last night took a huge gamble by pulling the trigger on a snap election.

The Tory leader has long insisted the national vote would happen in the second half of this year, which many in Westminster thought to mean October or November.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Sunak stepped out into the pouring rain to deliver a speech outside Downing Street in which he called a surprise summer election on July 4.

Despite some backbenchers claiming the early poll date is a ‘death wish’, the defiant PM hopes signs of a recovering economy will help him overturn Labour‘s 20-point opinion poll lead. 

As the country gears up for a titanic showdown in six weeks, MailOnline looks at the key hotspots to watch.