General election latest: Latest poll has more bad news for the Tories - as Labour accused of 'humiliating' Abbott (2024)

John Swinney, the leader of the SNP, is giving his party's keynote speech at their general election launch.

He is a member of Scottish parliament, and is not standing in Westminster.

Mr Swinney says it is the "loveliest of surprises" to be leading the party at this time.

He only became first minister and party leader a few weeks ago after Humza Yousaf's leadership collapsed.

The leader quips that polling day is 4 July - the US independence day - and it would be "a really good day for Scotland to follow suit".

This election represents the "biggest challenge the SNP has had for years".

Mr Swinney claims people in Scotland "want rid of this disastrous, chaotic, Tory government".

He adds that the SNP has a "clear task" to "demonstrate why achieving independence is relevant and indeed vital to their core concerns".

The SNP leader says voters in England will send the Tories "packing" and vote them out.

As part of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour campaign, he is targetting as many seats as possible in Scotland.

Mr Swinney claims Labour is doing an "impression" of the Conservatives, and attacks shadow health secretary Wes Streeting for wanting to increase private-public partnerships in the NHS.

The SNP leader says he wants Scottish voters to "unite" on 4 July to "protect Scotland's National Health Service".

We're now hearing from the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who is participating in a campaign event in Glasgow this afternoon.

"We have much to be confident about," he says, pointing to the SNP's record on free childcare, free university tuition and bringing children out of poverty.

"That is both the past and the present, and this general election is very much about the future," Mr Flynn adds.

"What we have in Westminster is a status quo, it's a desire as Sir Keir Starmer says for stability. But I'll tell you what stability means.

"It means £18bn worth of cuts to our public services, it means no access to the European single market. It means watering down our net zero potential.

"It means denying the people of Scotland their right to democratically decide their future.

"Friends, we deserve so much more."

We've got three key dates for your diary from the Electoral Commission should you need to register to vote in the general election.

18 June: This is the deadline to register, which you can do online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

19 June: This is the deadline to apply for a postal vote, should you not be around when polling stations open on 4 July.

26 June: This is the deadline to apply for a proxy vote, which allows someone to vote on your behalf, and also to apply for a Voter ID certificate should you not have another valid form of identification.

This is the first general election where ID is needed to vote - find out more about registration here:

By Dr Hannah Bunting, Sky News elections analyst, and Joely Santa Cruz, data journalist

The prime minister has taken a defensive approach, signalling the Conservatives' worry about being so far behind in the polls.

Sir Keir Starmer's visits show the scale of their ambition and highlight Labour's awareness of the challenge they face. They need to gain 125 seats to win the smallest possible majority.

Labour ambitious

Labour's visit to nearby Derbyshire Mid in the East Midlands shows the scale of their boldness. They need more than a 16-point swing to take the seat from the Tories, but their recent mayoral wins might mean they are feeling confident about convincing the voters here.

These stops in the Midlands show the regions to be a key battleground between the two main parties. The Conservatives had 76 MPs across the East and West, so it's crucial for their general election fortunes. The extent of Labour's success here could be the difference between them being the largest party or gaining a decisive majority.

The range of seats visited by Sir Keir demonstrate just how ambitious Labour are in their targets. They aren't shying away from places with big Conservative majorities, and kicking off their campaign in Kent tells us they think they can win in regions only Blair managed to conquer.

Labour's eyes on the prize

Eight Conservative-defended seats have had the pleasure of a visit from Sir Keir Starmer, but he has also found time to venture into SNP territory in Scotland. Why? Well, Labour are also taking aim at John Swinney and his party's troubles.

Every seat Labour can win off the SNP in Scotland reduces the number they need from the Tories directly in England and Wales for a majority.

The Glasgow constituencies that were once dominated by Labour are key battlegrounds. So, unsurprisingly, the Labour leader chose to head to Glasgow East. This has had significant boundary changes, resulting in an estimated 15% majority for the SNP.

Here is the full breakdown of Sir Keir Starmer's campaign visits so far:

By Dr Hannah Bunting, Sky News elections analyst, and Joely Santa Cruz, data journalist

The prime minister has taken a defensive approach, signalling the Conservatives' worry about being so far behind in the polls.

Rishi Sunak's very first campaign stop was Erewash in the East Midlands, a seat that should be considered safe with its 22% Conservative majority, but one he clearly thinks could be vulnerable.

A Labour victory here would be at the cusp between Labour becoming the largest party in a hung parliament or taking an overall majority, if similar levels of voter swing were replicated at a national level.

The last time Labour held Erewash (which has not undergone boundary changes in this cycle) was from 1997 to 2010, under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's leaderships.

Reform threat

In Dover and Deal - where the Conservative Natalie Elphicke defected from the Conservatives to Labour - leader Richard Tice focused on immigration. The decision of Reform's honorary president Nigel Farage not to stand as a candidate in this election was one piece of good news for the Conservatives, at least.

In total, 16 of Mr Sunak's 18 trips were to seats that the Conservatives are defending, 11 of which are vulnerable to Labour based on current polling estimates which suggest a swing of 16 points.

But that hasn't stopped Mr Sunak trying to defend what some might think is now beyond defensible. The most marginal seat he's visited so far is Vale of Glamorgan, where he took a trip to a brewery in Barry. Labour only requires a swing of 2.6 points to win this seat, so it seems like an optimistic majority to defend.

Lib-Dem southern front

The Liberal Democrats are closing in on several seats across the South of England. He visited four key Lib Dem targets, including Chesham and Amersham which has recently had a Liberal Democrat MP for the first time due to theirresounding 2021 by-election victory.

Here is the full breakdown of Rishi Sunak's campaign visits so far:

Rishi Sunak is out on the campaign trail already today, handing out flyers to people on the streets of London.

It's a quieter day for the prime minister than the last few weeks, which have seen him visit vast parts of the UK to push the Conservative cause.

Here are some pics the Conservative Party have sent us...

By Professor Michael Thrasher, Sky News election analyst

The electoral geography of the UK is changing.

Following the recommendations of independent Boundary Commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the next UK general election - which Sky News understands will be on 4 July - will be fought on new constituency boundaries, replacing those in operation since 2010.

This is the sixth periodic review to be implemented since the war. The next review is not scheduled until October 2031.

Exploring how this movement of voters affects the political makeup of the House of Commons is a task that Colin Rallings and myself have been doing over the past thirty years following previous boundary adjustments.

There are winners and losers in different parts of the UK - read the full analysis here:

Of course you can.

You might just need to do it a little bit earlier, and by post.

You can watch our explainer on how to do this below:

Derbyshire Police have confirmed they are reviewing allegations of electoral fraud after "concerns around marketing material".

It comes after Tory candidate Robert Largan, who is fighting to keep his High Peak seat, had published a number of campaign materials in the colours of Labour and Reform UK.

Not only this, but the graphics had included the phrases "Labour for Largan" and "Reform for Robert".

However, the first notes: "So many local Labour voters have told me they’re going to vote for me, because they want to keep me as their local MP.

"There have been so many that I'm launching a new Labour for Largan club."

Derbyshire Police said: "We wish to confirm that we have received a number of messages in relation to claims of election fraud, raised due to concerns around marketing material.

"An incident has been created and will be reviewed."

But a spokesman for Mr Largan has denied wrongdoing.

A statement said: "As Mr Largan's social media posts and website make abundantly clear, large numbers of traditional Labour voters have been contacting him to tell him they plan to vote for him, despite him being a Conservative candidate.

"The same goes for Reform supporters. This is because of Mr Largan's strong record of delivery in the High Peak. Therefore, supporters clubs of traditional Labour and Reform voters have been set up, to allow people to tell Mr Largan that they're supporting him.

"These are called Labour for Largan and Reform for Robert. Such supporters clubs are not a new phenomenon.

"It is worth pointing out that all of Mr Largan's election leaflets clearly state that he is the Conservative candidate and are in full compliance with electoral law.

"He is very well known in the High Peak as the local Conservative candidate. His name will appear on the ballot paper as the Conservative candidate.

"Nobody voting in the High Peak could possibly be confused on this point. Those claiming otherwise appear to have a very low opinion of the people of High Peak."

More now from shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who has been on the media round today.

Pressed on off-shore processing of asylum seekers, she declined to rule this out or sending them to have their claims processed abroad.

Ms Cooper told the BBC her party would create a border security command "to clear the backlog and to end asylum hotel use, and to put another new returns and enforcement unit in place to actually get the proper returns where people have no right to be here".

She said: "So, your question was might there be other future arrangements and so on?

"Keir has always said we would look at what works and there are different kinds of, I think, the sort of offshore processing arrangements and things that have already been used at different times in the past.

"For example, the Dublin agreement did mean that, under that scheme, some people were returned to France or to Germany or other countries."

When asked if Labour would send asylum seekers who are stuck in the system to another country to have their claims processed, Ms Cooper said: "That's certainly what used to happen as part of the Dublin scheme and we look at what works."