Britain's rich race to save their wealth from election hit

Wealthy people in the UK, from foreign billionaires to City of London bankers, are rushing to shelter their money after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised the country by calling a summer election.

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Some are cashing in investments, paying off bills that may soon rise or leaving the UK entirely, according to interviews with more than two dozen high-networth individuals, who asked not to be named, and wealth advisers.

The ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour party have both pledged to scrap preferential tax treatment for non-domiciled residents-rich foreigners living in the UK, also known as non-doms. Labour leader Keir Starmer has additional plans to tax the wealthy and polls show his party more than 20 points ahead.

"I have had previously hesitating clients go into panic mode," David Lesperance, a Poland-based tax and immigration adviser for the ultra-rich, said on Sunak calling the July 4 vote. He "pulled the pin on the election grenade."