UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA phantom leadership election campaign is already under way to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader as his party braces itself for an expected defeat.But Kemi Badenoch, the long-time frontrunner to replace Mr Sunak among the bookmakers, is in a fight to hold on to her seat as polling suggests she could be ousted through tactical voting.Issy Waite, the Labour candidate for North West Essex – the reformed Saffron Walden seat in Tory blue wall heartlands – has claimed she is just 2 percent behind the trade and business secretary with three weeks to go before the election.Kemi Badenoch is now a Labour target (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailConcerns have been raised that the government plans to fly two migrants to Rwanda next week in a bid to influence the general election result.The Independent understands plans are in place to fly a person from Nigeria and another from Pakistan, who are in the UK illegally, to the East African country before the election on 4 July.The flight, if it takes place, would be on the voluntary scheme rather than the deportation plan, which Rishi Sunak legislated for before the election. Neither person will have crossed the Channel on a small boat.The voluntary scheme sees the migrants flown to Rwanda, where their board and lodgings are paid for and they are given cash.Sunak vowed to stop the boats but his Rwanda deportation flights cannot happen until after the election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt’s been another topsy-turvy week on the campaign trail as the political parties released their election manifestos to try and compete for your vote at the general election on 4 July.The Independent has pinpointed these key moments:Starmer beats Sunak in second TV debate, poll revealsRishi Sunak suffered a fresh setback on Wednesday night after a snap poll found that Sir Keir Starmer won the TV debate by a substantial margin. Both leaders were given a real grilling by Beth Rigby on Sky’s Battle for Number 10, and took a number of tough questions from the audience in Grimsby. A YouGov survey after the debate had Sir Keir the easy winner on 64 per cent, with the prime minister trailing on 36 per cent.Disaster for Sunak as Farage’s Reform overtake Tories in pollIn another tough pill to swallow for the embattled prime minister the Tory Party was overtaken by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for the first time in a national poll. A YouGov survey Mr Farage‘s party at 19 per cent and the Conservatives on 18 per cent in voting intention. Mr Sunak brushed off the disappointing polling and claimed there was time in the campaign for a comeback. Mr Farage said he believed it showed that Reform could not be the “voice of opposition.”Ed Davey vows to rejoin Single Market and eventually… to overturn BrexitThe Liberal Democrat leader said he will push for Britain to rejoin the Single Market and eventually rejoin the EU, at the party’s manifesto launch on Monday. Sir Ed said that the UK “needs to be back at the heart of Europe” and stressed the Lib Dems “are a pro-European party”. The manifesto, which has healthcare at its core, also promised a tranche of care policies that would be backed by a £3.7 billion investment.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey tried his hand at an assault course in Kent while on the campaign trail on Thursday (Gareth Fuller/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has moved to calm Tory nerves amid panic after Reform UK overtook his party in a damaging YouGov poll.On a day when Nigel Farage called for a head-to-head debate with Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister tried to take back control of his own election campaign as he flew back from the G7 conference in Italy.The Reform UK leader began the day taunting the Tories with a video of him singing an Eminem song: “Guess who’s back? Back again!”Labour then accused the Tories of lying again after a cabinet minister claimed a Starmer government would introduce 18 new taxes, including a capital gains tax raid on people selling their homes. Rishi Sunak welcomes Pope Francis on day two of the 50th G7 summit at Borgo Egnazia, southern Italy More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has denied he is hostile to those who pay for private healthcare after he said he would never make that choice. The Labour leader said he “completely understand why people would go private”. His comments come a week after he was challenged on the issue in the first televised election leaders debate. He and the prime minister were asked if a loved one was “on a long waiting list for surgery, would you, if you felt that that was the only way forward, use private healthcare?”Rishi Sunak answered “yes”, but Sir Keir said “no”.Keir Starmer was interviewed by Nick Robinson More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBoris Johnson has recorded campaign videos for a number of his Tory MP supporters as he continues to snub Rishi Sunak. The former PM said he was “passionate” that voters should re-elect ally Sir Simon Clarke, who tried to oust Mr Sunak as leader earlier this year warning that the party faced an electoral “massacre” if he remained in charge. Mr Johnson also urged voters in Peterborough to re-elect Paul Bristow and backed Nick Fletcher in Doncaster East. The videos appeared on X, formerly Twitter, just hours after a new poll showed Nigel Farage’s Reform party had overtaken the Conservatives for the first time.Former prime minister Boris Johnson (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Nigel Farage teases leader of the opposition credentials as he makes Tory party declarationSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNigel Farage has declared himself as the “new opposition” following a groundbreaking YouGov poll that put Reform ahead of the Conservatives for the first time in history. Speaking during a press conference in London, the party leader called Sir Keir Starmer to go on a head-to-head televised debate to challenge his policies on migration. With only three weeks before election day, the prime minister insisted the Conservatives will not come third at the general election and said they are “still fighting hard fore every vote”.Speaking from Italy where is attending the G7 leaders summit, Mr Sunak warned people against voting for Nigel Farage’s party as they will make Labour win and hand Sir Keir Starmer a “blank cheque”. It comes as Mr Farage claimed that postal ballot is open to fraud and intimidation adding “it happens in this country all the time” while he was quizzed by callers on BBC’s 5 Live. But the Electoral Commission has said that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the UK.Show latest update 1718369289Reform UK press conference has now endedHere are the top lines from what Nigel Farage said: Mr Farage has declared Reform UK the new “opposition” after their leading YouGov poll result over the Tories.He has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to go face to face on a televised debate. The Reform leader refused to say how many seats he would like to win but claimed they are going to get “very substantial number of votes” at the general election. He said the Conservative party “will not be in power for a decade, maybe more” and they are “finished”. Mr Farage claimed Reform is a “long-term” project that is  “building of a big movement” ready for the next general election in 2029. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media during a press conference at The Wellington, central London, while on the General Election campaign trail More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour is mulling the biggest Whitehall shake-up in decades as Keir Starmer seeks to deliver on his key manifesto commitments. The move could see the Labour leader heading up new groups designed to cut through civil service silos and delays.Under the plans Labour could force departments to work together under ‘boards’ designed to pursue its “missions” for government, the Financial Times reports.These missions include creating economic growth, rebuilding the NHS, investment in green energy and tackling crime.Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer launches his party’s manifesto at Co-op HQ in Manchester More