General election latest: Tories deny Sunak is having 'duvet day' - as Gove joins exodus of Conservative MPs (2024)

Following his interview with Sky News, a minister has insisted the exodus of prominent Tory MPs is "not unnatural".

Bim Afolami told Times Radio he was confident about his own seat Hitchin and Harpenden, where the Tory majority has waned in recent years, and said it had not crossed his mind to stand down.

"It's not unnatural if you've got people who served for 20, sometimes 30 or 35 years in Parliament in their 50s or 60s coming to retirement or indeed retiring completely, that they choose to bring their political careers to a close. I think that’s fine."

The average age of Conservative MPs stepping down is ten years younger than those Labour MPs leaving parliament.

Mr Afolami said he thinks the party has a "good balance" of Tory big beasts like Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and newer MPs like himself, and insisted the mood in his blue-wall seat is one of optimism.

"The Lib Dems are strong but, you know, we’re confident that we’ll hold the seat and we’ll beat them."

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are hoping to snap up seats in the traditional Conservative heartlands of southern England, with Sir Ed Davey's party accusing Michael Goveof "running scared" from the prospect of a wipeout after he announced he was stepping down.

The average age of Conservative MPs stepping down is ten years younger than those Labour MPs leaving parliament.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove and former cabinet ministerAndrea Leadsom are the latest of 78 Tories choosing not to stand in the election - three more than those retiring or quitting before Labour's 1997 landslide.

Approximately 22% of Conservative MPs are standing down, compared to 10% of Labour MPs.

"This isn't just people retiring at the end of a long career, these are people who seem to be throwing in the towel," said political correspondent Tamara Cohen.

"While people do step down from politics for a whole range of personal and political reasons, this does look, in terms of the sheer numbers, like a lot of Conservatives have calculated that they're not going to win their seats."

With an 18,000 majority, Michael Gove would have been odds on to keep his seat, she said.

"But perhaps a lot of Conservatives are taking heed of Theresa May's warning in parliament yesterday that she was in opposition for 13 years and this should not be something they should wish for."

Among the political heavyweights stepping down are:

• Theresa May, former prime minister
• Matt Hanco*ck, former health secretary
• Ben Wallace, former defence secretary
• Three former chancellors: Nadhim Zahawi, Sir Sajid Javid and Kwasi Kwarteng
• Dominic Raab, former deputy PM.

The next government should consider a total ban on phones for under-16s, a report from MPs says.

TheHouseofCommonsEducationCommitteesaid tougher guidance on mobile phones in schools and how to manage children's screen time at home is needed to better protect young people.

Screen time was harmful to children's mental and physical health, it said.

"Our inquiry heard shocking statistics on the extentofthe damage being done to under-18s, particularly those who are already extremely vulnerable, such as those in care," said committeechairman Robin Walker.

"Without urgent action, more children will be put in harm's way. From exposure to p*rnography, to criminal gangs using online platforms to recruit children, the online world poses serious dangers."

The report found screen time was inversely associated with working memory, processing, attention levels, language skills and executive function.

However, online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after viewing harmful material on social media, said a ban on phones or social media access would "cause more harm than good" and would "punish children for the failuresoftech companies to protect them".

Mr Russell, who set up and is now chairmanofthe Molly Rose Foundation suicide prevention charity, said: "The next government must follow the evidence and deliver stronger regulation, not policies that would be slower to implement and deliver worse outcomes."

Earlier this year, the Department forEducationissued guidance instructing headteachers on how to ban the useofphones during break and lunch periods.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or emailjo@samaritans.orgin the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

Rishi Sunak is not taking a day off from the election trail and will instead be campaigning in Yorkshire, Conservative minister Bim Afolami has said.

Mr Afolami told Sky News he did not know what events the prime minister had planned.

He branded criticisms of Sunak campaign events made by former Scottish Conservatives leader, Ruth Davidson, as "fluff".

"I think a lot of those things are fluff. It doesn't frankly particularly matter and, look, Ruth's got a very good sense of humour. I think that the important thing is that we frame this election correctly."

The PM visited the Titanic Quarter in Belfast yesterday, where the world's largest attraction themed around the ship is located, prompting one reporter to ask if he is "captaining a sinking ship going into this election".

Ms Davidson posted on X: "The deluge launchdrowned out by D:Ream[the anthem of Labour's 1997 landslide].

"A brewery visit with a teetotal PM, so no chance of a piss up. Now a site visit to something famous for sinking.

"Is there a double agent in CCHQ, and were they a headline writer in a previous life?"

Clashes over the economy are set to take centre stage this weekend as Sir Keir Starmer begins campaigning in the West Midlands on the cost-of-living crisis, while the Conservatives hint at tax breaks for high earners.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will meet with supermarket workers today in London to talk about the cost of living, seeking to attack the Conservative record on the economy.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt signalled changes to personal allowances on larger incomes in an apparent bid to draw dividing lines with Labour.

Mr Hunt told the Telegraph: "If you look at the distortions in the tax system between £50,000 and £125,000, they are bad economically because they disincentivise people from doing what we need, which is to work, work harder. And we are the party of hard work."

Workers lose £1 of their tax-free personal allowance for every £2 that their earnings go above £100,000, and anyone on more than £125,140 gets no allowance.

The chancellor also branded inheritance tax "profoundly anti-Conservative".

In an article on the front page of the Daily Mail, Ms Reeves pitched Labour as the party of "stability and tough spending".

"Back in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher proclaimed that the Conservatives were the party of sound money. But three decades on from when she left office, it was the Conservatives who crashed the economy, put pensions in peril and sent the average monthly mortgage repayments up by £240 a month."

She added: "I will never play fast and loose with your money… I believe in sound money and public spending that is kept under control."

Ms Reeves appeared to drop a hint that she may eventually be able to cut taxes "for working people" under a Labour government, saying she supports reductions when there is "a plan to pay for it"

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.

Conservatives have denied claims Rishi Sunak is taking a "duvet day" as the election campaign enters its first weekend.

The prime minister will instead spend the day in discussions with advisers, The Guardian reported, citing three sources.

The reports prompted Labour MP Stella Creasy to post: "Sunak is already in need of a duvet day. Britain is already in need of a different government."

But a Tory source has told Sky News Mr Sunak speaks with advisers every day and insisted he is leading the campaign "from the front".

"The prime minister has done 51 interviews since this campaign began.

"There are days when you do 30 interviews and days when you don't. He's leading from the front in this campaign."

Mr Sunak is expected to hold a breakfast with veterans in his constituency this morning and be out in public tomorrow.

Good morning!

The date is set - and the tooth-and-nail fight for the keys to No 10 will accelerate today as we head towards the 4 July general election.

This six-week race is well under way, with political parties kicking off their campaign trails after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged himself as the "man with a plan".

Here's what you need to know about the election today:

• Housing Secretary Michael Gove and former business secretary Andrea Leadsom have said they will not stand at the general election - taking the number of Tory MPs retiring or quitting to 78;
• Keir Starmer will be in the West Midlands, focusing on the economy as the first weekend of election campaigning begins;
• Rishi Sunak is holding a breakfast meeting with veterans but after that, there appear to be few campaigning events lined up for him today;
• And Scotland's first minister will be embarking on a "day of action" travelling around Scotland to make his case for the SNP.

And in other news...

• The next government should consider a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools and a total ban on phones for under-16s, according to a report from the House of Commons Education Committee;
  
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the fiscal challenge awaiting the next government will hang over the election campaign like a dark cloud.

We'll be discussing all this and more with:

• Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
• Bim Afolami, economic secretary to the Treasury
  
• Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and former leader of the party
  

Stick with us for all the latest political news throughout the day.

By Tim Baker, political reporter

Housing Secretary Michael Gove and former business secretary Andrea Leadsom have said they will not stand at the general election.

Mr Gove announced after nearly 20 years as the Conservative Party MP for Surrey Heath, and serving in multiple cabinets over the course of the last 14 years, "a new generation should lead".

In a letter to his constituency chairman, the veteran cabinet minister said being an MP and minister has been a "profound privilege".

Just hours later on Friday evening, Ms Leadsom, who unsuccessfully stood to lead the Conservative Party against Theresa May in the wake of the Brexit referendum, said she would also be standing down.

In her resignation letter, Ms Leadsom said it has been "the greatest honour to serve the people of South Northamptonshire as their MP for the last 14 years".

Ms Leadsom, who is currently a junior health minister, was business secretary under Mrs May.

Read more here:

On the final day the House of Commons sat before the election, the view from the back of the chamber said it all.

As Theresa May - in her familiar flame red suit - left the chamber after a speech by Ben Wallace, the Tory benches were packed, Labour's almost deserted.

MPs were taking part in a "Valedictory Debate", an unprecedented and hastily convened piece of parliamentary business for departing MPs to say their farewells.

And while the debate was going on, an historic milestone was reached: the number of Conservatives standing down exceeded the number in 1997 after 18 years of Tory rule.

With an announcement by the 74-year-old Bexleyheath and Crayford MP Sir David Evennett, the total number of MPs retiring or quitting had reached 76 - one more than the 75 in 1997.

And by the time parliament prorogued at 8.25pm, the number had reached 78, after two shock announcements, first from Michael Gove and then former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom.

In a moment of pure parliamentary theatre, the news of Mr Gove's departure was broken to stunned MPs in the Commons by Matt Hanco*ck, who'd earlier made an emotional farewell speech.

Then while the prorogation ceremony was taking place came the bombshell announcement from Dame Andrea, now a junior health minister, that she's quitting too. And with a barb at Rishi Sunak too!

Read Jon's full analysis here: