The starting gun has been fired and the Prime Minister has announced a general election. To be held on June the 8th, it fits in with a tight timetable that gets this out of the way before the European Commission reports back on its position on our Article 50 negotiating position. This is a slightly strange period: the Commission are thinking about things, the French are having their elections, and the Germans are preparing for theirs. This is the last chance before we go into Article 50 negotiations for real.

I had argued that holding an election during the Article 50 process might have been more destabilising on top of the existing uncertainty. But I have been persuaded that this makes sense. The reality is that a government with a five-year term ahead of them, with a refreshed mandate to deliver the objectives determined by the British people last June, is in a far stronger position to be able to deliver the outcome we want from our negotiations with the EU.

This election will, of course, be about more than just the EU and Article 50. It will be about what sort of Britain we want when we are outside the EU. What sort of global player we want to be. But it will be about far more than that. It will be about how we shape our own future domestically, how we address issues that people worry about whilst building on the successes that we have achieved, digging ourselves out of the problems of the financial crisis. We have record low unemployment, record high employment, the economy is healthy and inflation is under control. Living standards are rising but all of this can be lost with poor decisions by governments. That is why it is vital that we have a chance to put forward our visions of the future.

But of course it is also important that Theresa May earns her own mandate. It is often said that new PMs do not have the electoral franchise that people like David Cameron or Tony Blair enjoyed. That is why it makes sense for our new PM to ask the people what they think; to not shirk the responsibility as we have seen in the past.

And finally, in the devolved countries, this is about the union of the UK. It is vital that we ensure that people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales know we want to continue with the United Kingdom, with them as part of it.

In just seven weeks’ time, this will all be over. We will then be able to settle down to 5 years of the new government.