Election latest: Ex-Reform leader making 'painful discovery' about Farage, says minister (2024)

Never shy of a photo opportunity, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has provided us with a rather literal interpretation of his party's bid to bring down the so-called Blue Wall at this election.

Just as the Tories took chunks out of the Red Wall (Labour's traditional strongholds) back in 2019, the Lib Dems are hoping to do the same to the Conservatives this time.

Today Sir Ed is in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, which was won by the Tories with a 46% share of the vote last time out.

His party came second with 41.8%, so it's a big target.

Sir Ed was there this morning with local candidate Tom Morrison, where they enjoyed a spot of appropriately-themed Jenga…

The other candidates in Cheadle are:

• Alexander Frank Richard Drury, Greens;
• Kelly Fowler, Labour;
• Tanya Manzoor, Workers Party;
• Mary Robinson, Conservatives.

Labour is reiterating its pitch to voters today - stability.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has been outlining the party's economic policy in Edinburgh.

It boils down to: "This is a change election, and stability is change after the 14 years that we have had."

She adds: "It's only with stability that we can grow our economy and improve living standards for ordinary working people."

This stability, she says, would come through a "tough set of economic rules" - including paying for "day-to-day spending through tax receipts".

However, she says, stability on its own is not enough - the UK "needs investment" and she also mentions reform.

Ms Reeves is in Edinburgh as the party continues to try to win back Scottish voters to help it get back to power, with Labour having been decimated by the SNP since the 2015 general election.

Who's got time to come up with policies when you've got absolutely critical decisions to make over what to wear on the campaign trail?

Jokes aside, some attention has been paid to the fashion choices of both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer in recent days.

The prime minister, whose fondness for Adidas Samba shoes had already made headlines before the election kicked off, raised eyebrows with his pricey rucksack when he got the sleeper train to Cornwall.

It was reported to be a £750 luxury backpack from Tumi, monogrammed with his initials.

'Legal attire won't cut the mustard'

And then there was Sir Keir's £500 jacket from French fashion brand Sandro, which he wore while visiting Blackpool.

Sarah Gray, a personal stylist and image consultant, told Kay Burley's Breakfast programme the two leaders do need to look the part.

Their dress sense can help them "appeal to a wide audience", and make them appear "more approachable" and "recognisable".

Sir Keir, she says, is "most definitely realising his legal attire's not going to cut the mustard" in his role as Labour leader.

But she says both Mr Sunak and Sir Keir would want to be careful about wearing pricey attire in "less affluent" areas.

Farage has 'sharpened up' his suits

She also noticed a slight change in the cut of Nigel Farage's suit when he announced he was taking over Reform and running for parliament on Monday afternoon.

"We could see he's sharpened up," she said.

And long gone is the purple UKIP-coloured tie of election campaigns from years gone by - this time it was decorated with butterflies, which symbolises "transformation", Gray said.

Today, Labour's ruling committee will approve the final list of candidates going forward for election - including Diane Abbott.

As Sir Keir Starmer reiterated this morning, she's free to stand for the party once again - though the leader admitted he hasn't spoken to her for several months (see 10.13 post).

After a week of accusations that Sir Keir's tried to purge the party's left, Labour's 650 prospective MPs should be rubber-stamped in a short online meeting at midday.

Sir Keir will hope this process by the National Executive Committee draws a line under the controversy over treatment of Ms Abbott, after briefings - apparently incorrect - the leadership wanted to bar her.

The Labour leader has a majority on the NEC and his will goes.

Recriminations have surrounded the process, not least because various Sir Keir loyalists on the 40-member NEC have themselves been selected.

Faiza Shaheen, a Jeremy Corbyn-supporting economist who was dropped as a candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green over social media posts, has claimed the Labour Party is "institutionally racist".

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the left-wing MP for Brighton Kemptown since 2017, claimed he was suspended over a complaint from eight years ago.

He told my colleague Serena Barker-Singh today: "The system is wrong. There's a danger it looks like cronyism or 'Jobs for the boys'."

As one Labour insider put it: "The Labour Party love to get bogged down in process, but hopefully this soap opera can now come to an end."

Meanwhile, the Tories still have dozens of seats to select.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was asked whether the Labour Party would guarantee to reduce net migration year-on-year, as has been pledged by the Conservatives.

He didn't give a straight answer, but did reiterate that migration is "far too high".

Sir Keir says: "The Conservatives have let immigration get out of control, we've got record numbers of people coming to this country.

"And they've now said they're going to have a visa cap, they've not said what the number is.

"We did have a visa cap before, Rishi Sunak argued to get rid of it - which they did in 2020 - and now they're going back to it but without a number."

Asked again whether Labour could guarantee this drop, Sir Keir would only say he wants immigration to "come down".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is in Greater Manchester, where he has been discussing the row around Diane Abbott.

He is asked about a social media post which claims he was lying about "having respect for her" as a Labour candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Has he spoken to Ms Abbott since then?

"We have dealt with the Diane Abbott issue," Sir Keir says.

"The choice is continue with the chaos of division or turn the page with Labour."

The Labour leader says Ms Abbott "will be part of that".

Asked again, he says: "I spoke to Diane two or three months ago."

Our political correspondent Mhari Aurorais hearing Rishi Sunak could soon suffer yet more defections.

Rather than to Labour, where three Tories have moved to recently - Mark Logan, Natalie Elphicke, and Dan Poulter - Mhari's hearing some may be heading for Reform UK.

It comes after a double dose of bad news for the Tories on an "absolutely fascinating" night for the election campaign, which saw Nigel Farage announce he was taking over as Reform leader and standing for parliament himself for an eighth time.

He'll be going for the seat of Clacton.

Less than an hour later, a "bombshell poll" projected a huge majority for Labour, even bigger than Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.

Mhari says Farage's return and the poll "has really shaken some Tories", adding: "I've been speaking to some Tories this morning who have been telling me they're expecting some potential defections to Reform after that.

"It will be interesting how this starts to play out - how much the Tory party can keep things together, or if things start to fall apart."

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

The Welsh government has put plans to cut the summer holidays on hold.

Under the proposals, the summer holiday would be reduced by one week, with an extra week added for October half term.

But Wales's education secretary Lynne Neagle has announced no decision will be made before the next Senedd election in 2026.

That means that any future changes to the school year are unlikely to be introduced before 2028.

It is the second time in a month that Welsh government policy has been shelved, after plans for a new farm subsidy scheme were put on hold following protests among farmers.

You can read more from Sky News below:

Until voters go to the polls on 4 July, the Politics Hub will be looking back at some memorable moments from previous general election campaigns.

Ahead of tonight's debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, a reminder of the potential pitfalls for politicians on TV.

Labour had been tipped to return to power at the 2015 election, but some bruising TV appearances for then leader Ed Miliband likely didn't help the party's chances by the end of the campaign.

One such memorable telly stint saw him grilled on Sky News by famed political interrogator Jeremy Paxman about whether he was "tough enough" for the job of prime minister.

Leaning forward, Mr Miliband shared an anecdote about the UK government's desire to intervene in Syria that year, in line with the US under then president Barack Obama.

He told Paxman how he was "called into a room" to speak to the prime minister, David Cameron, and his deputy, Nick Clegg, fresh off the phone with Mr Obama, and ultimately decided to vote against taking action.

"Standing up to the leader of the free world shows a certain toughness," said Mr Miliband.

Defending his record on foreign policy, he concluded his point with the immortal words: "Am I tough enuss... tough enough?

"Hell yes, I'm tough enough."

Previous entry: Flakes between friends

Sir Keir Starmer could be heading to Downing Street with a majority of 194 seats, bigger than what Tony Blair achieved in 1997, according to the first polling projection by YouGov of the campaign.

The projection shows a historic Labour landslide, with the party getting the highest number of seats of any party at an election in history.

At the same time, the Tories are trying to boost ratings by talking about culture wars while Labour is talking about real wars in terms of what they would do for defence. And Nigel Farage has announced he's standing for Reform UK.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson talks to Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig about the poll and today's developments, and to Scarlett Maguire, director of the polling organisation JL Partners.

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