General election latest: Tory exodus hits 75 MPs as more announce they're standing down; Rishi Sunak doesn't rule out Boris Johnson joining campaign (2024)

In the wake of news Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will run against Labour in Islington North, the party has now confirmed its own candidate.

After a contest for the party nomination, Praful Nargund has been confirmed as the Labour candidate.

In January 2023, Rishi Sunak made five promises.

Since then, he and his ministers have rarely missed an opportunity to list them. In case you haven't heard, he promised to:

• Halve inflation
• Grow the economy
• Reduce debt
• Cut NHS waiting lists and times
• Stop the boats

See below how he is doing on these goals:

Greg Clark has become the latest Tory MP to announce he is standing down at the next election.

The former business secretary has been the MP for Tunbridge Wells since 2005.

His announcement follows another Kent MP, Craig Mackinlay, confirming he won't contest his South Thanet seat (see 12.38 post).

It means a total of 75 Conservative MPs are standing down.

This equals the total from the 1997 election, which saw 18 years of Tory government come to an end and Labour's Sir Tony Blair elected in a landslide victory.

The Conservatives are "running scared" of the Liberal Democrats in target constituencies in the south of England, Sir Ed Davey has said.

The Lib Dems' leader munched on an ice cream as he visited Eastbourne on the East Sussex coast - where his party came a fairly close second to the Tories in 2019.

Discussing battlegrounds in the South, Sir Ed said: "Everybody knows now that if you want to beat the Conservatives, you vote Liberal Democrat.

"We are determined to beat as many Conservative MPs as we possibly can."

Discussing the news that veteran Tory MP Sir John Redwood is to stand down at the general election, Sir Ed declared that his party "will win" Sir John's seat of Wokingham in Berkshire and said "we will win here" in Eastbourne.

Reacting to the announcement that the energy price cap will be cut at the start of July, Sir Ed said: "Energy bills remain far higher than five years ago, on top of sky-high mortgages and rents and prices in the shops.

"Families and pensioners are feeling worse off after years of Conservative chaos.

"Liberal Democrats would slash energy bills by investing in insulating people's homes and boosting renewables - the cheapest, cleanest and most popular form of energy."

The energy price cap will fall to £1,568 a year from 1 July - a drop of £122 from the previous quarter.

A new Labour peer took a jab at Rishi Sunak getting rained on during his announcement of the General Election on Wednesday.

In her maiden speech in the House of Lords, Baroness Hazarika said: "I'm very pleased to be making this important speech indoors. I do have an umbrella just down here, though."

Treasury minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton responded: "She has yet to discover that it can indeed rain inside this House, despite the best efforts of our maintenance team."

In her speech, Lady Hazarika also paid tribute to her parents, who moved from India to Scotland, and to the local community in Lanarkshire.

The journalist recalled her father, on telling a local that he was Muslim, being asked: "Aye, but what kind? A Celtic Muslim or a Rangers Muslim?"

With the general election campaign officially under way, what better time to keep a close eye on the latest polling?

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the trackerhere.

Labour has accused the Conservatives of "caving in to vested interests" after it emerged that the Renters Reform Bill is likely to be axed.

The bill, which would have ended no-fault evictions, has not been included in legislation being rushed through parliament.

MPs are sitting for the last time today, ahead of the general election.

Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, did not include the bill as she laid out legislation for what is known as the "wash-up" period.

A plan to ban no-fault evictions was first announced in 2019 by then-prime minister Theresa May, who described them as "unfair evictions" that allowed responsible tenants to be "uprooted by their landlord with little notice, and often little justification".

Matthew Pennycook, Labour’s shadow housing minister, commented: "The Tories' decision to cave in to vested interests and abandon their already weakened Renters Reform Bill leaves in tatters the promises they made to private tenants five years ago."

Should Labour be elected, he said it would "pass robust renters reform legislation that abolishes Section 21 no-fault evictions immediately and decisively levels the playing field between landlords and tenants".

Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats' housing spokesperson, said: "This means the vast majority of renters still face being evicted from their homes through no fault of their own, all because of Conservative infighting.

"The Liberal Democrats will keep fighting for a fair deal for renters, who have been disastrously let down by this Conservative government."

Our political editor Beth Rigby is in Glasgow with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, as Labour launched their election campaign in Scotland today.

She starts by asking Sir Keir about the role of Scotland in the general election.

Beth points out that when it comes his six "first steps" for power - oversight of four of them is devolved to Holyrood.

Beth asks if this shows Sir Keir is "not talking to the Scots."

But Sir Keir disagrees, saying: "We are absolutely talking to the Scots - and Scotland is absolutely vital to a Labour government.

"Not only numerically, although that's important, but also because if I am privileged enough to come in to serve as the prime minister, I want to be the prime minister for the whole of the United Kingdom.

"And therefore, the powerful voices from Scotland matter."

Turning to the matter of Labour's "first steps", Sir Keir says the economy is "hugely important here in Scotland, which is why Anas (Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader) and I have been working so hard on it.

"A new deal for working people - really important for jobs here in Scotland."

The Labour leader points to "common issues" that matter for Scotland.

But does Labour need Scotland to win the election?

Sir Keir says the project Labour is building he wants to be a project for "all of Britain to take us forward - but also something that is really important to me personally".

He adds: "Of course, it is about the numbers, to ensure that we do get a Labour government, but its also about who I am as a person.

"I want to be a prime minister for a whole of the United Kingdom."

That means "strong representation" in Scotland, he says.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was also asked about his call for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to face him in a weekly TV debate.

He said: "I heard this morning that he said he wanted to debate the British people rather than me.

"I think what the British people want are answers.

"Answers to the questions about what he would actually do if he became prime minister and how much it's going to cost them in higher taxes. I think those are the answers that he should be providing.

"For my part, I'm very happy to debate Keir Starmer so I can set out what I want to do for this country, taking bold action, working towards a clear plan and delivering a secure future for everyone.

"That's the choice of this election.

"It's either going to be Keir Starmer or me that's prime minister on 5 July and he should want to debate me.

"I want to debate him and I hope that he takes up the offer."

Earlier, Sir Keir told Sky News the prime minister was "sounding increasingly desperate" after he accused the Labour leader of dodging TV debates.

He said: "Of course there are going to be TV debates, they are part and parcel of the election cycle now. I obviously want to spend as much of my time talking to voters directly."