UK Politics

Starmer responds to Jeremy Corbyn standing as independent candidate in general electionSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has confirmed he would welcome former prime minister Boris Johnson to join the Tory campaign and could make an appearance ahead of the general election on July 4.But the Conservatives have decided to ban Boris Johnson ally David Frost from standing as a candidate and from applying to stand in any of the constituencies left to nominate. The former Brexit secretary spent months criticising Rishi Sunak’s leadership of the party and country, even calling for him to be replaced.Meanwhile, the Commons has been hit by a wave of more than 100 resignations, with 76 Tories announcing they’re standing down so far. Craig Mackinlay, who lost his arms and legs from sepsis, has also joined the list and revealed that Sunak’s surprise announcement of a July election had him quit as an MP.Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has announced he is standing as an independent candidate at the general election to fight Labour for Islington North, vowing to be “an independent voice for equality, democracy and peace”.Show latest update 1716562166General Election Contdown: Key dates May 24: Parliament prorogued which means the end of the Parliamentary session, bringing most business to an end.May 30: Parliament dissolved. By law, this has to take place no later than 25 working days before polling day.June 7: Deadline for candidates to be nominated. June 18: Deadline to register to vote. This can be done online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.June 19: Deadline to apply for a postal vote.June 26: Deadline to apply for a proxy vote – in other words, for someone to vote on your behalf – and to apply for a Voter ID certificate, if you do not already have a valid form of photo identification.July 4: Election day. Polls will open from 7am to 10pm.July 9: The new Parliament will be summoned to meet.July 17: State opening of Parliament.Labour will hope to hang on to its strong lead in the polls until election day More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChancellor Jeremy Hunt and cabinet veteran Michael Gove appear at the head of a Lib Dem hit list of top Tory targets they believe they can unseat in the general election.The list is part of a wider strategy by the Lib Dems to “break the Tory blue wall” of traditionally safe seats across the south of England with previously unwinnable constituencies in counties such as Surrey now in their targets.Since winning the Chesham and Amersham by-election in 2021, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has made no secret of his hopes to repaint the blue wall yellow on the electoral map.But the plan to pour extra resources into seats held by five current cabinet ministers and five more being vacated by former Tory grandees including Theresa May and Sir John Redwood has echoes of the party’s disastrous decapitation strategy in 2005 which backfired spectacularly.Michael Gove’s seat is vulnerable More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s government has been accused of letting renters down after it emerged that legislation banning no-fault evictions will not be passed before the election. The Conservative pledge to end section 21 – or no-fault evictions – will now not be met, as it will not return to the Commons before parliament is prorogued on Friday. The provision allows landlords to evict tenants without having to give a reason beyond what is in a tenancy agreement. The bill was first introduced in the Commons in May last year but its progress stalled after Conservative MPs campaigned for stronger protections for landlords. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt has not included the bill in the list of “wash-up” legislation that could be rushed through by MPs ahead of the election campaign. Downing Street denied failing renters, with a spokesperson saying: “It’s part of the wash-up process that bills are able to be passed where there is a consensus. But of course the government wanted to get this passed and that’s why it was introduced in the first place.”Tom Darling, campaign manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said renters have been badly let down, adding: “In 2019 the Conservative Manifesto promised to deliver a better deal for private renters and an end to no-fault evictions. “Renters in England – trapped in an unhealthy, unaffordable and insecure renting system – have been waiting five long years for action on that pledge”. Official figures published this month showed a six-year high in repossessions by bailiffs through no-fault evictions More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been banished from the party after announcing he will stand as an independent candidate in Islington North in the general election.Mr Corbyn’s announcement on Friday morning will have come as a headache for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who banned his predecessor from standing for Labour after he failed to apologise for his handling of antisemitism within the party.In response, Sir Keir reaffirmed to Sky News why he blocked the 74-year-old from standing for Labour, claiming he “would tear antisemitism out of our party by the roots”. He added: “That was my first solemn promise, and I followed through on that, and that is why I took the decision that Jeremy Corbyn would not stand as a Labour candidate at this election.“Now what’s happened with Jeremy standing as an independent, that’s a matter for him.”Soon after, it emerged that Mr Corbyn had been informed that his party membership had been revoked. And just hours after that, Labour selected local entrepeneur Praful Nargund to stand against him. The contest will be one of the most closely watched on election night, with Mr Corbyn hoping his tireless local campaigning will help him hold the seat against the odds.Mr Corbyn, who has held Islington North seat for more than 40 years, made the announcement to stand as an independent in an interview with the Islington Tribune in which he said he would be “a voice for equality, democracy and peace”.For updates ahead of the general election – follow our live blog by clicking hereFormer Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he want to continue representing Islington North constituents on issues such as social justice, human rights and peace More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe police probe into Angela Rayner’s tax and property affairs will be concluded before the general election, with Labour increasingly confident she will be cleared, according to reports.An announcement on the outcome of Greater Manchester Police’s investigation is expected in the next week, a month and a half after it was opened.Ms Rayner’s allies are hoping Greater Manchester Police will make a public statement drawing a line under the row about the 2015 sale of her council house, The Times reported. It would be a boost for Labour’s election campaign, with senior Tories having repeatedly used the investigation as an attack line.Sir Keir Starmer kicked off Labour’s campaign alongside Angela Rayner More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWith the Tories suffering a pounding in the polls after the announcement of a snap general election, it’s perhaps not surprising some MPs will already be thinking about their next move.And that certainly appears to be the case for Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker, who was maybe too quick to reel off a list of high-adrenaline sports when asked what he’d do if he lost his Wycombe seat.“Skydiving, motorcycling, fast catamaran sailing… the wide range of things I’ll do,” he said in his response to a question from the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire, which has since gone viral on social media.“I think you’re talking about work though,” Mr Baker added, with a smile.Ms Derbyshire then responded: “I was talking about the work, but that’s fine.” Mr Baker added: “The first thing I’ll do if I don’t win my seat is have a long break.”For the latest on the general election – follow our live updates by clicking here‘Skydiving, motorcycling, fast catamaran sailing’ – MP Steve Baker reels off list of things he’ll do if he loses his seat at the general election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Britain’s lawmakers will leave Parliament on Friday for the last time before an election is held in six weeks. Some will never return -– members of Parliament who are retiring or who lose their seats on July 4 face an abrupt readjustment to life outside politics.After a flurry of last-minute legislation, Parliament will be prorogued, or formally suspended, in a ceremony featuring hat-doffing, lords in ermine-trimmed robes and commands in Norman French.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call a summer election means that some key pieces of legislation will have to be abandoned -– including his flagship plan to ban tobacco sales to future generations. WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL? On the second full day of campaigning, Sunak and his main opponent, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, have already covered hundreds of miles (kilometers) crisscrossing the U.K. on carefully stage-managed visits to businesses and communities. Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland and central England on Friday, while Starmer is in Scotland and northwest England.Labour is the strong favorite to win the election after moving from the left toward the political center under Starmer, its leader since 2020.The party got a reminder of its recent past on Friday, when Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, said he would run for Parliament as an independent against Labour’s candidate. Starmer suspended Corbyn and barred him from running again for Labour after the former leader accused opponents of exaggerating the problem of antisemitism in the party.Starmer apologized for antisemitism, a move welcomed by many Jewish Labour members and others. But supporters of Corbyn said he was being smeared because of his longtime support for the Palestinian cause.Labour has not yet chosen its candidate to run in the inner-London seat of Islington North, which Corbyn has represented since 1983.“I am here to represent the people of Islington North on exactly the same principles that I’ve stood by my whole life: social justice, human rights and peace,” Corbyn said. HOW IS PARLIAMENT PROROGUED? Parliament is set to break up for the election with a tradition-steeped ceremony in which lawmakers from the House of Commons are summoned to the House of Lords in the name of King Charles III by an official known as Black Rod. That’s followed by a round of bowing and cap-doffing, before the title of each bill being passed is read out by an official with a cry of “le roy le veult” — “the king wills it” in Norman French.Parliament will be officially dissolved next week, 25 working days before election day. It will not sit again until after the election, when new members will be sworn in.The new government, whether Labour or Conservative, is due to announce its legislative program at another occasion of pomp and ceremony, the State Opening of Parliament, on July 17. WHAT LEGISLATION WILL BE PASSED FIRST? Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords were scurrying Friday to pass final pieces of legislation on the last day of a Parliament that began after the previous national election in December 2019 -– a process known as “washing up.”One of the most significant is a law that will quash the convictions of hundreds of Post Office branch managers who were prosecuted for theft or fraud because a faulty computer system known as Horizon showed money was missing. The prosecutions and yearslong cover-up by Post Office bosses has been called one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in U.K. history.The Post Office (Horizon System) Offenses Bill was approved by Parliament late Thursday and is due to become law after receiving the formality of royal assent from King Charles III on Friday.Victims of a tainted blood scandal in which thousands of people were infected with HIV and hepatitis by contaminated blood products in the 1970s and ’80s will get compensation after the Victims and Prisoners Bill is passed by Parliament.Also expected to make the statute book is a bill overhauling property law in England and Wales, giving more rights to people who own leasehold properties, where the building’s freehold is owned by someone else. WHAT BILLS WILL FAIL? One of Sunak’s flagship policies -– a plan to create a “smoke-free generation” by banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 2008 — is among the bills that has run out of time. It could be reintroduced by the new government if the Conservatives win the election. Labour supports the idea in principle and could also introduce a similar bill if it wins power.A law that would ban landlords from evicting tenants without giving a reason is also falling by the wayside. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email King Charles III won’t be out and about much over the next six weeks — and it’s not because of his ongoing cancer treatments.Shortly after U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an early parliamentary election for July 4, Buckingham Palace said that all members of the royal family were canceling most public engagements until after the vote to avoid doing anything that might divert attention from the campaign.That announcement is just one of the ways that Charles will seek to play his part as a unifying head of state during the election, without violating a constitutional ban on interfering in politics. While the king’s role in government is largely ceremonial, it’s bound up by traditions that embody the way royal powers were gradually transferred to Parliament over the last 800 years.Here’s a look at the monarch’s role in the run up to the election, including a few dos and don’ts. DID CHARLES PLAY ANY ROLE IN CALLING THE ELECTION? The decision to call an election was entirely Sunak’s. But before he could do so, the king had to grant permission to dissolve Parliament early.Technically, the king still has the power to refuse a dissolution request if he believes an election would be detrimental to the nation. But the last time this happened was in 1835.Ignoring that precedent “would expose the monarch to allegations of political interference of an undemocratic nature, even if the intention of the refusal was to preserve the good functioning of democracy,” according to the Institute for Government, an independent think tank. WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE KING? The current session of Parliament will be “prorogued,” or ended, on Friday based on an order that Charles approved during a meeting of the Privy Council on Thursday at Buckingham Palace.The king won’t attend the formal end of the session, a ceremonial affair where the speaker of the House of Commons and other members of Parliament will troop into the House of Lords to hear a speech written by the government. WHAT ABOUT THOSE PUBLIC APPEARANCES? The royal family is barred by law and tradition from interfering in politics at any time, but ensuring that those rules are strictly followed is even more important during an election.That means the royals can’t campaign for candidates, endorse policies, or even let their political preferences be known.Buckingham Palace spelled it out soon after Sunak’s announcement, announcing that members of the royal family would postpone all engagements that “may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign.’’That meant the king on Friday ditched trips to a Bentley car factory and a community center helping people who are struggling financially. WHAT’S A MONARCH TO DO? Well, some things are above reproach.The king and queen still plan to attend ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.Other engagements will be examined on a case-by-case basis, the palace said. WHY DOES THIS MATTER? One of the modern monarchy’s primary roles is to provide a unifying figurehead who is seen as above politics and can provide a sense of stability in difficult times.This is the first general election of Charles’ reign. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, oversaw 21 during her 70 years on the throne.George Gross, a royal expert at King’s College London, said elections are by definition moments of turbulence in which people look to the monarchy for continuity.“There is … a power vacuum in political terms. Power is now handed back to the British people, and they will review the offering over the next six weeks,’’ Gross said. “So what that means, though, is that the head of state has a new role. Or rather, (the) key role of stability and continuity comes to the fore. Now, (the royals) cannot be political in any way.”___Follow AP stories on King Charles III at https://apnews.com/hub/king-charles-iii More