General election latest: Rishi Sunak won’t confirm whether he’ll quit as leader if Conservative Party loses

When pressed, the prime minister only said ‘my priority is focused on this election’

Sunak on Farage

Rishi Sunak won’t confirm whether he will quit as Conservative Party leader if the Tories lose the general election.

Pressed on whether he would remain Tory leader, Mr Sunak told the BBC: “My priority is focused on this election, right. I love this party dearly and of course I’ll always put myself at the service of it, and the service of my country.”

It came as Sir Keir Starmer has said only the progressives can beat the far-right and blamed the surge on “disaffection among voters” amid popularity of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist party in France.

The Labour leader said people feel the country is “too broken to be mended” and “can’t trust politicians” after 14 years of “Tory chaos”, but added: “Only progressives have the answers of the challenges that are facing us.”

Labour holds a strong 24-point lead in latest polls on voter intentions, with the Tories struggling to close the gap.

Key Points

• Rishi Sunak has not ruled out staying on as Conservative leader
• Labour warns Tories could still ‘sneak through at the end’ to win election
• Starmer: I will work with Marine Le Pen on small boats
• Poll: Tories to be 'all but wiped out’ in London
• Starmer: Only progressives can beat the far-right

[1 July 2024 23:45 · Barney Davis]

Sunak calls on spirit of Three Lions with threat of a Labour ‘supermajority’ looming

Rishi Sunak is set to begin a 48-hour blitz around the country with a desperate final appeal to voters to support him in order to “stop a Labour supermajority”.

The prime minister will kick off a final push on the last two days of a dramatic general election campaign, with a speech claiming that just 130,000 voters could make the difference.

He told demoralised supporters and party activists to remember the spirit of the England football team pulling level in the 95th minute on Sunday, saying: “It’s not over until it’s over.”

[1 July 2024 23:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

University chancellor says she is an ‘accidental trailblazer’ for women in Stem

The new chancellor of a Scottish university, who describes herself as an “accidental trailblazer”, has said she will fulfil the role for the common good.

Anne-Marie Imafidon has spent her career helping young women break into the largely male-dominated science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).

Recognised around the world for founding Stemettes, a social enterprise which encourages girls and young women to enter the field, Dr Imafidon will be officially installed as chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) on July 2.

She will be replacing singer and campaigner Annie Lennox, the university’s previous chancellor.

[1 July 2024 23:22 · Barney Davis]

Ed Davey urges voters to take ‘leap of faith’ after bungee jump

Sir Ed Davey has urged the public to “vote for historic change” by choosing the Liberal Democrats and getting rid of the Conservatives.

This comes after the party leader took part in a bungee jump before asking voters to take a similar “leap of faith” on polling day.

Sir Ed said: “On Thursday, millions of people have a chance to vote for historic change.

“This will be a once-in-a-century election.

“From former Conservative heartlands like Tunbridge Wells to communities across the West Country such as St Ives and Yeovil, people must vote Liberal Democrat if they want to kick this Conservative Government out of office for good.

“From Honiton to Harrogate, people are switching to the Liberal Democrats after years of failure and neglect under this Conservative Government.

“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to beat Conservative MPs in scores of seats, save our NHS, end the sewage scandal and elect a strong local champion.”

The party said it is in second place to the Tories in 80 seats across the UK.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey taking part in a bungee jump (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

[1 July 2024 23:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Starmer says victory for Marine Le Pen wouldn’t damage Labour’s goals

Sir Keir Starmer said a victory for France’s National Rally would not damage Labour’s goal of negotiating a “better deal” with the European Union.

Pressed on Marine Le Pen’s preference for bilateral deals over EU-wide ones, Sir Keir said: “I’ve always supported bilaterals as well as EU-wide agreements. They’re not mutually exclusive.

“And some of the agreements we’ve got with France are bilateral in any event. I think they need to be stronger and better and deeper, particularly in relation to smashing the gangs that are running the vile trade of putting people into boats.

“But there are also EU measures. The security agreement we want with the EU when it comes to dealing with smuggling gangs is really important.”

Asked whether he was concerned a Eurosceptic French government could make his aim of closer economic ties more difficult to achieve, he said: “I genuinely don’t want to get ahead of myself. Firstly, we haven’t seen the final outcome in France. We’ve also got a big outcome of our own on Thursday.

“I don’t think it affects the overall intention we have, which is to negotiate a better deal with the EU. I think the deal we’ve got is botched. I think that anybody who’s trading with the EU feels that it’s botched, and we can do better than that across not just trade, but actually research and development, also on the security front.”

(AP)

[1 July 2024 22:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

Watch: James Cleverly criticises Banksy migrant boat stunt at Glastonbury

[1 July 2024 22:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Exclusive: Next prime minister urged to dump Sunak’s post-Brexit wine tax

Sir Keir Starmer is being urged to dump Rishi Sunak’s ‘sneaky’ post-Brexit wine tax if he wins the keys to Downing Street this week, Kate Devlin reports.

Britain’s wine drinkers face a little-known ‘sauvignon surcharge’ from February, as part of changes brought in after the UK left the European Union.

As the prime minister uses the election campaign to repeatedly accuse Labour of planning secret tax rises if they get into power, experts and industry leaders today call for his booze levy to be dropped.

[1 July 2024 21:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

Watch: Ed Davey bungee jumps in latest election campaign stunt

[1 July 2024 21:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

UK's landmark postwar elections: When Blair won the first of his 3 elections in 1997

[1 July 2024 20:54 · Barney Davis]

‘Putting up taxes is in Labour’s DNA’ - Sunak

Rishi Sunak claimed urged voters to work over the next three days to prevent the “danger” of a Labour government.

Speaking at a campaign event in Leicestershire, the Prime Minister said: “Friends, we have got urgent work to do. We have three days to save Britain from the danger of a Labour government.

“A Labour government that would hike up everyone’s taxes by £2,000, would shunt our politics to the left, and they would change the rules to entrench themselves in power for a decade.

“We cannot let Britain sleepwalk into this. It is our job, it is our duty, to wake people up to that danger.

“So I say to all of you, I say to every Conservative, don’t surrender to Labour, fight for every vote, fight for our values, and fight for our vision of Britain.”

He added: “Once you’ve given Labour a blank cheque, you won’t be able to get it back. And that means that your taxes are going up: your car, your pension, your savings, your work, you name it, they will tax it thousands and thousands of pounds. It’s what they always do. It’s in their DNA.”

[1 July 2024 20:46 · Barney Davis]

Jonathan Gullis attacks Sir Keir again telling Tories ‘let’s hope Putin doesn’t choose 6.01pm’

Tory deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer, warning “let’s hope Putin doesn’t choose 6.01pm” to further escalate the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a Conservative campaign event, Mr Gullis said: “The leader of the Labour Party, who is literally boasting that he plans to clock off at 6pm on a daily basis today.

“So let’s hope Putin doesn’t choose 6.01pm when he wishes to go any further with his illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.”

The Labour leader told Virgin Radio he intends to finish work at 6pm on Fridays to spend time with his family, adding that protecting time to spend with his son and daughter made him more relaxed and a better decision-maker.