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Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been dealt another hammer blow as a new poll shows Labour’s lead is at its highest level since Liz Truss’s premiership.
A survey by Opinium has Sir Keir Starmer’s party up four points to 45 per cent, with the Tories down two to 25 per cent, putting Labour on course for a landslide victory.
The poll, conducted between 29-31 May at a time of turmoil in Labour’s campaign, suggests that the prime minister’s eye-catching announcements on mandatory national service and tax cuts for pensioners have failed to land with voters.
Elsewhere, Sir Keir attempted to draw a line under the party’s row over Diane Abbott standing again in her London constituency.
He heaped praise on the veteran MP, the first black woman ever elected to parliament.
“Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she has been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I have actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises,” he said in an interview published in The Observer.
Keir Starmer pledges to slash ‘sky high’ migration numbers under a Labour government
A reminder of what happened yesterday
Both the Conservative and Labour parties kicked off their “battle bus” tours on Saturday. The coaches will spend the next five weeks driving thousands of miles across the country in an attempt to win over voters.
Sir Keir Starmer, his deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves were in Boris Johnson’s old constituency, Uxbridge, to launch Labour’s red coach. Emblazoned on the bus, dozens of times over, was the word “change”.
In Redcar, northeast England, prime minister Rishi Sunak kicked off the Tories’ tour in their blue Mercedes coach. He travelled the first stop on the bus to nearby Blythe.
In the East Midlands, meanwhile, Reform’s Lee Anderson and Nigel Farage addressed crowds in Ashfield, Mr Anderson’s constituency. On the agenda: immigration, immigration and, yes, immigration.
What to expect on day 11 of campaigning?
Below we have compiled a quick guide to the main developments that will happen today for the General Election campaign trail.
Conservatives
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be “campaigning in London” without media, according to his party, a day after the Conservative Party leader launched the Tory battle bus in Redcar, northeast England.
His health secretary Victoria Atkins, meanwhile, will promote the Tory plan on the Sunday morning broadcast round.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper will talk up plans to slash migration levels in broadcast studios.
Her and shadow education minister Bridget Phillipson will also promote a new growth and skills levy, allowing firms to use up to 50 per cent of their levy contributions to fund training through routes other than apprenticeships.
While leader Sir Ed Davey is taking the weekend off from attention-grabbing stunts to care for his son, his party is going on the attack over health.
The Lib Dems promised to reverse £1 billion in Conservative cuts to the Public Health Grant, which provides local authorities with funding for public health projects.
Scottish National Party
North of the border, First Minister John Swinney will urge people to “vote SNP to put Scotland’s interests first” as he formally launches the party’s General Election campaign in Glasgow.
He will tell activists that Westminster decision-making has meant “austerity, Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis being imposed on Scotland”.
Tories pledge to build 100 new GP surgeries by cutting number of NHS managers
More GP surgeries and diagnostic centres would be built under a future Conservative government funded by slashing the number of NHS managers, the Tories have said.
In their first major health offer of the general election, the Tories have said they will bring more care services into the community.
Full report:
Labour to put ‘businesses in the driving seat’ with reformed apprenticeship levy
Businesses are “crying out for help to tackle skills shortages”, the shadow education secretary has warned.
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ICYMI: D:Ream ban Labour from using their song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ in election campaign
Full report:
ICYMI: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds
Migrant fruit and vegetable pickers coming to the UK to work on farms are being bullied and sexually harassed, a report on the seasonal worker visa scheme has found.
Testimonies from workers detail rape threats and harassment in a “pervasive” environment of bullying and humiliation on UK farms, with workers reporting passing out due to work conditions and having wages withheld.
Full report:
ICYMI: Extra 100,000 families face ‘mortgage nightmare’ with hike before election
More than 3,300 households a day will see their payments rise significantly before 4 July, and the average homeowner will have to fork out £240 a month more, or nearly £3,000 a year.
Full report:
Lib Dems launch ‘Operation 1997’ to smash Tory blue wall with tactical voting
A leaked document has revealed that the Lib Dems are set to launch a massive “tactical voting” push to try to squeeze the Labour vote in more than 50 Tory seats.
Sir Ed Davey’s party is hoping to regain its place as the third party in the Commons from the Scottish National Party and will be targeting at least 53 Tory-held seats in the so-called “blue wall” in the coming weeks.
Liz Truss insists she was not the worst prime minister – it was Tony Blair
A defiant Liz Truss has insisted she was not the worst prime minister – as she handed the unwanted accolade to Tony Blair.
The 48-year-old, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, oversaw the disastrous mini-Budget in 2022 that sent the markets into freefall during her 49 days in office.
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Source: independent.co.uk
