UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Tory general election candidate has quit after lurid sexual comments he made about women were exposed.Magistrate Sam Trask was standing in the battleground seat of Bridgend in Wales, which the Conservatives narrowly won in 2019.But he pulled out of the race on Thursday after it was revealed he once boasted that his favourite bra size measuring technique was “hand sizing them by feel”.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.Mr Trask, a magistrate whose role comes with the responsibility to “respect the dignity of all”, added: “Maybe have to make a more detailed inspection with my lips and tongue… for accuracy, of course.”Sam Trask was the Conservative candidate for Bridgend and has met Rishi Sunak More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe leader of the Scottish Tories, Douglas Ross, has announced that he intends to run for Westminster after previously planning to concentrate on the Scottish parliament.But the U-turn has come with huge controversy, after neighbouring Scottish Tory MP David Duguid was ruthlessly deselected by the Scottish Conservative management board at the last minute to make way for Mr Ross in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.Mr Duguid, who was the MP for Banff and Buchan before the boundary changes, had recently had spinal surgery but was on course to make a full recovery. He had been readopted by his local party and told by doctors that he could campaign as long as he did not go door-knocking.The saga is the latest in a series of selection-related rows that have affected both the Tories and Labour. Yesterday, Tory members in the constituency of Basildon and Billericay were outraged at party chair Richard Holden being foisted on them on a one-man shortlist.Douglas Ross insists he can beat the SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak accepted an additional £5m from Tory donor Frank Hester, who was accused of saying Diane Abbott “should be shot”, Electoral Commission figures show.In a major boost to the Tories’ campaign war chest, the prime minister accepted the donation in January after Mr Hester donated £10m to the Conservative Party last year. The latest data also revealed the Tories took a further £150,000 from Mr Hester. That donation was received on 8 March but accepted by the party on 14 March, three days after his comments were first revealed. His other donations were made before the story broke. Mr Hester allegedly told colleagues that looking at Ms Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”, adding that the veteran Labour MP “should be shot”.Frank Hester allegedly made the comments in 2019 (Screengrab/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer award-winning BBC journalist David Campanale is suing the Liberal Democrats for allegedly deselecting him because he is a practising Christian.The revelation comes after The Independent disclosed that a petition demanding he is reinstated as the candidate for Sutton and Cheam in south London had been backed by the bishop of Winchester Philip Mounstephen who warned that Liberal greats like William Gladstone would no longer be welcome in the party.Since then the GoCitizen petition has been supported by 20,000 people and the bishop of Guildford Andrew Watson has added his support.In a further move today, court papers have been filed against the Lib Dems for discrimination and victimisation against Mr Campanale.Ed Davey’s party is being sued More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is more trusted by the British people than Rishi Sunak the modern infrastructure that Britain needs in the future built, a new poll has revealed.The research, commissioned by pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, found that the Labour leader was 2 to 1 over the prime minister (34 per cent to 16 per cent) to deliver projects such as new homes and transport schemes.Britons also think the country doesn’t build enough. The poll, carried out by Opinium, found that more than half (52 per cent) of voters said we don’t build enough sources of clean energy.Another half (49 per per cent) say we don’t build enough transport links and just under half (45 per cent) agree that the UK doesn’t build enough new homes in and around major cities.The findings were revealed as Britain Remade released its plan, that includes 64 policies, to get the country building again.As part of the plans, the campaign group said there needs to be a radical overhaul of current planning rules and regulations. For example, the campaign group said that it can take up to 13 years for an offshore wind farm to go from being an idea to generating power despite construction only taking two to three years.Keir Starmer is more trusted than Rishi Sunak to deliver infrastructure projects More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Labour first minister of Wales Vaughan Gething has vowed to carry on in the job despite losing a vote of no confidence, and branded the motion “a transparent gimmick”. He lost the vote on his leadership in the Senedd on Wednesday, with 29 votes against him to 27 for, but the motion, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, was non-binding, meaning he will not be ousted from his job. However, the result is highly embarrassing for him and for Labour.The motion followed a series of controversies involving Mr Gething and the collapse of his electoral deal with Plaid Cymru.Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader only since March, was seen in tears before the vote.Gething is the first Clack leader of any European country More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBlocked Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen will stand against Labour as an independent, she has announced. She said: “I am standing as an independent candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green at the General Election on 4 July.”The announcement comes a day after she dramatically quit Labour and accused the party of operating a “hierarchy of racism”.Ms Shaheen has previously said she is considering legal action against Labour.Faiza Shaheen has confirmed she will stand as an independent candidate against Labour (Gareth Fuller/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt was a chaotic day for Nigel Farage at his campaign rally on Tuesday – which saw fans arrive to show their support for the new Reform Party leader before a protester covered him in milkshake.After repeatedly saying that he wouldn’t run – and declaring the US presidential contest was more important than the UK election – Mr Farage will attempt to get a seat in the House of Commons for the eighth time, this time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.The self-styled “man of the people” and anti-establishment campaigner, who argued for the UK to leave the EU for many years and was one of Brexit’s staunchest supporters, has been in and around the political fray now for three decades.Eastleigh by-election (1994)Nigel Farage out on the campaign trail in Clacton More