Closing summary
The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, told his constituents that the health secretary, Victoria Atkins, would be his preferred candidate to lead the Conservatives besides Rishi Sunak, the prime minister. In a leaked recording, obtained by the i, Dowden reportedly said Atkins was the only other “star of his generation” capable of leading the Tories.
Survation says it is 99% certain that Labour will win more seats than it did in 1997, with Keir Starmer’s party on course to win 484 seats in the general election. “The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are in a close race to form the official opposition,” the pollster said in a post on X.
Starmer confirmed that Labour is likely to continue the early release scheme for prisoners if it wins the election. The Labour party leader also said he will seek to avoid constant reshuffles if he becomes prime minister, saying he wants “stability” in ministerial appointments.
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, called for a review into the timetable for UK general elections in light of concerns about people not getting postal votes on time. Starmer, meanwhile, urged the Post Office minister, Kevin Hollinrake, to meet the postal service over concerns that hundreds of people could miss out on casting their vote on polling day after their ballots failed to arrive. Health minister Maria Caulfield said Hollinrake was “urgently” investigating delays to postal ballots being delivered. Royal Mail hit back at criticism, insisting there is “no backlog” ahead of the election.
Richard Tice, the former Reform UK leader who became its chair when Nigel Farage replaced him, claimed the Tories infiltrated his party with “Trojan horse” candidates ahead of the election with the intention of discrediting Reform UK.
Sunak said Labour would be “unchecked and unaccountable” with a big majority. Starmer responded by saying he needs a big majority so that he has a “strong mandate” for change.
The Green party released a poll showing it has an eight-point lead in the newly formed constituency of Bristol Central where co-leader Carla Denyer is challenging Thangam Debbonaire. An independent survey for the party by the pollsters WeThink suggest the Greens are on course to take 40% of the vote, compared to 32% for Labour. However, the poll also shows 18% of respondents “don’t know” which way they will vote.
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Updated
Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of desperate tactics amid claims that Tory criticism of his defence of family time was insensitive and had antisemitic undertones.
With Rishi Sunak embarking on a marathon day of campaigning, beginning with a pre-dawn visit to a distribution centre and closing with a late-night rally, Tory ministers and aides sought to contrast these efforts with what they termed Starmer’s “part-time” approach.
As an increasingly personal election campaign neared its end, the Conservatives pushed out “final warnings” about what they said a massive Labour majority would mean for taxes, migration and other policy areas.
Downing Street chiefs believe the criticism of Starmer for saying he would maintain his current habit of trying to spend time with his wife and children after 6pm on Fridays “pretty well come what may” has resonated with voters.
However, it has sparked an angry backlash, with senior Jewish figures saying the decision to target such a culturally significant time of the week – Starmer’s wife, Victoria, comes from a Jewish family – was ill-judged and deeply unfair.
You can read the full story by my colleagues, Ben Quinn, Peter Walker and Kiran Stacey, here:
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