Politics

Sir Keir Starmer took a break from the campaign trail to watch Taylor Swift perform at Wembley Stadium. The Labour leader made a “swift” pitstop for the first night of the London leg of the American pop star’s record-breaking Eras tour. Election latest: Farage criticised for ‘disgraceful’ comments on Ukraine war Swift is performing three

Nigel Farage has reiterated that he blames the West and NATO for the Russian invasion of Ukraine – as he confirmed that he previously said he “admired” Vladimir Putin as a statesman. Speaking to the BBC, the Reform UK leader was asked about his previous comments on Russia and Ukraine. Asked about Russia’s 2022 invasion,

The architect of the government’s delayed reforms to social care has told Sky News politicians need to “grow up” and tackle the crisis in the sector. Amid a bitter election row over public spending, Sir Andrew Dilnot said he believed the two main parties were reluctant to discuss care reform for fear of being accused

From Rishi Sunak, we saw the good, the bad and the ugly during the latest TV election showdown with other party leaders – and a tough and unforgiving audience. The good came when he broke his silence on the Tory betting scandal early on in his half-hour session of questions, declaring he was “incredibly angry”

A second Conservative candidate facing an investigation over allegedly betting on the timing of the general election is married to the party’s director of campaigns. Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate for Bristol North West, is being looked into by the Gambling Commission. She has worked for the party since 2015 and is married to the

A close protection officer has been arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the general election. He is a member of the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Command, which provides personal close protection to ministerial VIPs and members of the Royal Family. The Gambling Commission informed the Met Police last week that

The SNP has called for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped and for billions more to be put into the NHS as the party pledged to “end 14 years of austerity” during its manifesto launch. Speaking in Edinburgh, First Minister John Swinney claimed his was the only major party arguing for an end to

A former Brexit Party candidate is running for Reform UK under a different name, following accusations of Islamophobia in 2019. Dionne Moore Cocozza is now running in Glasgow West as Dionne Moore, using her middle name as a surname. No details on Reform UK’s website link the candidate to the 2019 race. The Reform UK

Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson says allowing Nigel Farage to join the Conservatives would be “imbecilic” and would only happen “over my cold, dead corpse”. The Reform UK leader used the launch of his party’s policy document to set out his pitch to “become a real opposition” to Labour, which will form the next

Nigel Farage has acknowledged Reform UK will not form a government after 4 July – but said the general election campaign is the “first big push” towards the next contest. Launching his party’s offer to the electorate – which he is calling a “contract” rather than a manifesto – Mr Farage said his campaign has

An extra 250,000 children will be hit by the two-child benefit cap next year, rising to an extra half a million by 2029, a leading thinktank has warned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the number of children who will fall under the cap – which limits child benefits for the first two children

The Reform Party has accepted the resignation of one of its election candidates after “unacceptable” historical social media comments came to light. Grant StClair-Armstrong, who was standing in Saffron Walden, the Essex constituency where Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was the most recent MP, tendered his resignation following reports in The Times that he had previously

Wes Streeting has urged voters not to hand “the matches back to the arsonists to finish the job” as he warned against complacency over polls predicting a Labour landslide. The shadow health secretary stressed the choice at the election as he branded the Tory election manifesto “Liz Truss’s budget on steroids” and raised the prospect

Nigel Farage has predicted the Tories will soon descend into “warfare” as a former Conservative minister warned voters about a “Labour elective dictatorship” if they voted for Reform. The Reform UK leader told The Sunday Telegraph that divisions in the party were only going to “get worse” in the run-up to polling day on 4

Even a poll-obsessive like me would have to admit that during election campaigns we often spend too much time focusing on the election ‘horse race’ – who is up and who is down in the polls – on an almost hourly basis. Even in this election, where Labour has been well ahead of the Conservatives

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he should be allowed into a political leaders’ event next week – and challenged Sir Keir Starmer to a head-to-head debate. The parliamentary hopeful was speaking at an event in London, after a single poll put his party one percentage point above the Conservatives. This is within the

Rishi Sunak has responded to a poll showing Nigel Farage’s Reform party ahead of the Conservatives – saying a vote for the party would “give a blank cheque to Labour”. Speaking to journalists at the G7 summit in Italy, the prime minister said: “We are only halfway through this election, so I’m still fighting very

Let’s party like it’s 1997. That could be the message from Labour’s 2024 general election. Back in ’97, the front cover of Labour’s manifesto showed a full-page photo of a mean and moody-looking Tony Blair. The title then was “New Labour, because Britain deserves better” and the campaign song was D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get

The majority of the Sky News YouGov voters panel thought Keir Starmer performed better than Rishi Sunak in the Grimsby Leaders’ Event. But a large number of our panel, made up of undecided voters, were also unimpressed with both leaders. When asked whether the leaders’ performances had impacted their voting intentions, our panel was split.

Sir Keir Starmer performed best overall in the Sky News leaders’ event, a snap YouGov poll suggests. Almost two thirds – 64% – of those questioned said the Labour leader came out on top, compared to 36% who thought Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did better. The question was: leaving aside your own party preference, who