General election latest: Cleverly ‘lacks appetite’ for Tory leadership contest as party faces wipeout in poll
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Sunak branded 'pound shop Nigel Farage' during live radio interview
James Cleverly “lacks the appetite” to stand in the Tory leadership race following a presumed election loss, according to sources close to him.
Mr Cleverly, who previously served as foreign secretary, is reported to be focusing on winning re-election in his Braintree constituency and “doesn’t want” the leadership as much as other colleagues.
“He’s focused on winning Braintree and returning and as far as he’s concerned he’s done the two of the most high profile jobs in government and he’s still focused on delivering on the second of them,” the source told The Times.
It comes as a mega-poll predicted the Tories are set to suffer the party’s worst loss in more than a century with senior Cabinet ministers losing their seats.
With just two weeks to go before the general election, the Blue Wall could be shaking as safe seats like Jeremy Hunt’s constituency in South West Surrey is set to fall, the survey predicts.
More In Common UK pollsters warned the results show the Conservatives could emerge with only 155 seats, which is the worst number since 1906.
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Sunak’s Titanic, photobombs and upside down flags: The best general election gaffes so far
Sunak’s Titanic, photobombs and upside down flags: Best 2024 general election gaffes
From standing below an exit sign to falling off a paddleboard, The Independent has put together the best blunders from the election campaign with more than a month still to go
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 06:00
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High society Tory candidate liked antisemitic social media comments
High society Tory candidate liked antisemitic social media comments
A former figure skater turned aristocrat standing as a Conservative candidate has been accused of engaging with antisemitic content online
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 05:00
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Galloway says UK should exit Nato and retirement age should be 60
Galloway says UK should exit Nato and retirement age should be 60 in giveaway spree
Leader of Workers Party of Great Britain presented manifesto promising brighter future but warning of nuclear ‘Armageddon’
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 04:00
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The ghosts of Tory past can’t help Rishi now
Letters: The ghosts of Tory past can’t help Rishi now
Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to [email protected]
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 03:00
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Boris, a Jaguar XJL and a Greggs: on the campaign trail with Jacob Rees-Mogg
Boris, a Jaguar XJL and a Greggs: on the campaign trail with Jacob Rees-Mogg
Despite current polling, Alex Ross encounters Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg in jovial mood as he knocks on doors for support ahead of 4 July
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 02:00
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The Tory big beasts set to lose seats at election after shock poll
The Tory big beasts set to lose seats at election after shock poll
A different poll found Rishi Sunak would lose his North Yorkshire Richmond seat to Labour at the general election
Alexander Butler20 June 2024 01:00
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Rishi Sunak ‘fighting the wrong campaign’
Rishi Sunak was warned he is “fighting the wrong campaign” as he has placed his hopes on an intervention by Boris Johnson to try to stave off an election meltdown.
The prime minister today took a trip to southwest England in a bid to rescue seats from a pincer movement by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on the right and Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the left.
But as Mr Sunak was openly mocked by his rivals amid images of him speaking on hay bales and sheep running away when he tried to feed them, former chancellor George Osborne, who ran the winning election campaigns in 2010 and 2015, heaped criticism on the beleaguered prime minister.
Read the full article here.
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 00:01
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Rishi Sunak condemns Stonehenge attack as ‘disgraceful act of vandalism’
Just Stop Oil protesters cover Stonehenge in orange paint ahead of summer solstice
Rishi Sunak condemns Stonehenge attack as ‘disgraceful act of vandalism’
Salma Ouaguira19 June 2024 23:00
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Comment | Keir Starmer is right to keep his wife Victoria out of the spotlight
Very little is known about life at the Starmers’ – but maintaining privacy will become much harder should the family move into No 10, writes John Rentoul.
“I rather admire the way Starmer has struck a deal with the devil of media intrusion on his own terms,” says Rentoul.
“He will use his wife’s work as an occupational therapist to buttress his pro-NHS credentials, and he will talk about his son and daughter enough to prove that he is a centrist dad; but he has not (yet) asked Victoria to introduce him at Labour Party conference, and he never uses his children’s names in public or allows photographs of them.”
Read the full opinion piece here.
Salma Ouaguira19 June 2024 22:00
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Voter registrations tank for under-25s
The deadline to register to vote passed yesterday (18 June), and over 630,000 people applied to register on the final day, Alicja Hagopian reports.
This marks 2.9m voter registrations since the election was called on 22 May. This figure is down by 1 million from the same period before the 2019 general election (29 October-26 November), when 3.85m people registered to vote.
Though 18-34 year olds had the highest proportion of registrations overall, the Gen-Z population may not be showing up to the ballot in high numbers.
The under-25 age group has sent in just 746,000 applications to vote ahead of the registration deadline — compared to double that (1.4m) before the 2019 general election.
Salma Ouaguira19 June 2024 21:30
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