General Election latest: Rishi Sunak may cling to power even if Tories lose

The Conservative Party appears to have moved up the poll, catching up with Labour.

A poll by Savanta suggests that the gap between the Tories and Labour is down to 15 points – the narrowest in a month.

It was carried out online from June 26-28 among 2,092 adults in the UK.

• Labour 38%
• Conservative 21%
• Reform 14%
• Liberal Democrats 11%
• Greens 6%
• SNP 2%
• Plaid Cymru 1%
• Other parties 7%

Sir Keir Starmer made his third campaign stop of Monday at Heath Farm, near Banbury in Oxfordshire.

The Labour leader continued his tour of usually safe Conservative rural seats.

Now part of the Banbury constituency, the area was once represented by David Cameron, who visited the farm when he was the local MP in 2003.

Joined by Rachel Reeves and shadow Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones, Sir Keir spoke to activists in a woodshed next to a motorcycle garage and a sourdough bakery.

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 his invasion of Ukraine.

The Labour leader had told Virgin Radio he intends to finish work at 6pm on Fridays to spend time with his family.

He added that protecting time to spend with his son and daughter made him more relaxed and a better decision-maker.

But Gullis did not take the comments well and criticised him at a Conservative campaign event, sayinf ‘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.’

Scores of NHS employees have vowed to quit if the Conservatives remain in power after the General Election.

A survey by Find Out Now, sent to the Mirror, shows that as many as 22% of staff would think about leaving.

Meanwhile, 15% of respondents said they would definitely resign.

More than 1,000 NHS employees were interviewed about on 25 June and 26 to determine what a Tory majority would mean for the healthcare system.

Currently, there are over 110,000 vacancies in the NHS England workforce.

Labour’s Angela Rayner said parts of the General Election campaign have been ‘nasty’.

Speaking at Citizens UK’s General Election assembly, the party’s deputy leader admitted that politics is not always a nice business to be in.

She added: ‘Bits of this election campaign have been a bit nasty.’

It is unclear if she was referring to a specific incident, but she has previously opened up about the abuse she is forced to face in politics.

In December 2023, a man, David Perry, 66, was fined for sending a ‘vile and abusing’ email to Rayner.

Rabbi Arnie Saunders, a councillor in Salford, was berated outside a mosque in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, earlier today.

He is standing as the Tory MP for the Bury South constituency, and had been invited there by Muslim elders to speak to constituents.

Footage shows the candidate, who uses a walking stick, being abused outside before he enters.

During the four-minute incident, a man shouting at Rabbi Saunders tells him not to ‘come to the house of Allah’ and orders him to leave, claiming: ‘You justified children to be murdered…when you are with your own people these are the things you say, then you come here and smile like a snake.’

He is seen leaving without speaking.

In a statement the mosque said most people had ‘engaged positively’ with his visit.

It continued: ‘Unfortunately, one or two individuals questioned the rabbi in a hostile manner and this clip has been widely circulated. This clip was recorded by one of the individuals himself.

‘The rabbi was a guest of the mosque, and he was treated inappropriately and disrespectfully. Any genuine political questions should have been raised respectfully.

‘We regret what has happened, we have already apologised to the rabbi for how he was treated and wish to extend our apologies to others who have seen the clip and are upset by it.

‘This incident is not reflective of the congregation of the mosque or the Muslim community in Bury.’

Rishi Sunak has hinted that he may not quit as a leader of the Conservative Party even if Labour wins Thursday’s election.

In an interview with the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason, the PM did not confirm when asked if he would stay on if the results do not go in his favour.

‘Look my priority is focused on this election. I love this party dearly, and of course I will always put myself at the service of it, and the service of my country,’ he said, dodging the question.

Sunak also shed light on his plans to remain as an MP, saying: ‘Yes. I love my constituents and I love serving them.

‘You know how passionate I am about our life and my home in north Yorkshire.’

Strategists at Tory HQ have decided their best play this afternoon is to attack Keir Starmer for clocking off at 6pm so he can spend more time with his kids.

The Labour leader earlier said he does ‘not do a work related thing after 6pm pretty well come what may’, to protect family time, and plans to keep it that way in Downing Street.

The Tories then tweeted what they seem to think is an absolute zinger: a mock-up of Mr Starmer’s timetable, complete with a 90-minute lunch, afternoon nap and ‘meeting with Sadiq’.

Rishi Sunak later seized the opportunity to paint himself as something of a workaholic.

He said: ‘I haven’t seen the comments but what I would say is — what time is it now? — I haven’t finished at six ever.

‘We would only have a couple of hours left in the day at this point, which is not great.’

A Reform UK candidate has reportedly been recorded calling Nigel Farage and other party bosses ‘a***holes’ and expressed concerns about Reform volunteers.

James Kendall, who is standing in Leeds South West and Morley, made the comments to Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, who is running against him, according to The Independent.

He was said to have been venting about political scheming in the constituency orchestrated by Reform’s top brass.

Ms Jenkyns, a hardline Brexiteer, claims Reform tried to get her to defect ahead of the election with promises of party jobs.

Even though she rejected the offer, she has since called for the Tories and Reform to strike up a deal against Labour, and even put a picture of her with Nigel Farage on her campaign leaflet.

Mr Kendall claims Farage’s predecessor, Richard Tice, forced him to stand against Mr Jenkyns to add pressure to defect.

Polling suggests the seat will be won comfortably by Labour’s Mark Sewards, though he would have faced a tough challenge if local support for Reform and the Tories were commanded by a single candidate.

According to the Independent, Mr Kendall was recorded telling his rival: ‘They’ve (Reform) just thrown you under the bus. They’re a***holes. It’s horrific.’

‘Andrea, it doesn’t make f***ing sense why I’m standing against you. I’ve made it clear. I did not want to stand against you.’

Referring to Reform canvassers, he added: ‘I wouldn’t let some of them knock on doors!’

The comments were made before Reform campaigners in Clacton were recorded calling Rishi Sunak a ‘p***’ and using homophobic language.

Mr Kendall has not yet commented on the matter. Mr Tice did not deny the claims but accused Ms Jenkyns of bribing Mr Kendall to make the remarks.

Just hours after doing a bungee jump to whip up support, Ed Davey is bouncing around again.

This time, though, it’s on dry land. The Lib Dem leader was filmed vigorously shaking around in a figure-hugging orange top for a Zumba class in Wokingham.

There isn’t a huge amount to say about this, which may be for the best if you wish to preserve your sanity by looking at something else for a bit.

If you were a floating voter who finally decided to vote Lib Dem after watching this, we’d love to hear from you – don’t all rush at once, though.

The latest poll trackers have not been updated since the end of last week, but here’s a reminder of where things stand.

Labour are still on course for a landslide with 40% of the vote, despite losing around four points over the course of the past month.

The Tories, who also lost four points during that time, are on 20%.

The losses for the two main parties have been mirrored by gains for Reform UK, who are on 16%.

The Lib Dems have also made some modest gains, and are now on 11%, with the Greens on 6%.

The most decisive indication of the final result will come on Thursday night when the exit poll is published.

In a live Q&A in Staffordshire this morning, Rishi Sunak dodged a question on the recent success of far-right candidates in France’s elections.

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party has pledged to crack down on legal and illegal immigration and slash France’s obligations to the EU.

British security advisers have expressed fears that a National Rally government would stop bothering to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel from France into the UK.

Le Pen also has a long history of parroting Kremlin lines and her party has strongly suggested it will water down support for Ukraine.

While she criticised Vladimir Putin’s invasion, she previously supported fake Russian elections in annexed Ukrainian territory, and has accepted millions in loans from Kremlin-linked funders.

Keir Starmer has previously said he would continue to work with the French government if it was taken over by the National Rally, in the interests of securing UK borders.

‘Do something you’ve never done before – vote Liberal Democraaaat!’ yelled Ed Davey after leaping off a crane in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Fortunately his ankles were fastened securely to a bungee rope that prevented an untimely end to the Lib Dem campaign.

Party aides were reportedly overheard expressing amazement that their leader remembered his lines.

Back on solid ground, Mr Davey continued to milk the stunt for every possible drop of political imagery.

‘To get the change our country needs this week and beat the Conservatives in scores of seats, I am asking people to take a leap of faith and vote for the Liberal Democrats,’ he said.

‘A lot of people are on the cusp of doing something they’ve never done before on Thursday and voting for the Liberal Democrats, so I decided to do something I’ve never done before too.

‘Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to fix the NHS and care, end the sewage scandal and tackle the cost of living crisis.’

He added: ‘So, take the plunge – vote for health and care, which is our main priority unlike anybody else’s.’