General election latest: Sunak denies he's planning to flee to US - as outgoing Tory MP backs Reform to take her seat (2024)

Earlier (see 8.25pm post), we brought you news that another Labour MP - John Cryer - had confirmed he will step aside at the general election.

Paying tribute to the outgoing MP, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "The constituents of Leyton and Wanstead, and indeed the whole Parliamentary Labour Party, will sorely miss John Cryer.

"Thank you for your friendship, support and years of service to the Labour and Trade Union Movement."

Until voters go to the polls on 4 July, the Politics Hub will be looking back at some memorable moments from previous general election campaigns.

How would you react if someone threw an egg in your face?

In the case of John Prescott, the answer was to punch them.

The former deputy prime minister threw a fist at the voter who targeted him ahead of a campaign rally in Wales.

The incident came on the day Labour launched its 2001 election manifesto, and went down in such infamy it has its own Wikipedia page.

Mr Prescott, then Tony Blair’s deputy, insisted the hefty jab was an act of self-defence - but him choosing violence divided the party leadership, with Gordon Brown more sympathetic than the prime minister was.

What are the rules on voter ID?How does tactical voting work? In what different ways can you cast your ballot?

The countdown to the election is on - and already the amount of information can seem overwhelming.

We cut through the noise to bring you what you need to know, from registering to vote, to election day and what happens next.

Read on here...

By Rob Powell, political correspondent

The Conservatives have admitted mistakenly sending out an email which reportedly accused MPs and ministers of failing to "get behind" the party's election campaign.

Staff at Tory headquarters accused some MPs of focusing too much on ministerial business and said some were refusing to knock on doors or were away on holiday, The Times reported.

The document was accidentally emailed to MPs by a senior figure in the campaign, the newspaper said.

Responding, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: "The email was sent in error and immediately recalled. Those who received it have been contacted with an apology".

You can read more from Sky News below:

Why are so many Tory MPs going? Is it because they read the opinion polls and believe their party's time is up and they don't fancy the hard slog and often unrewarding grind of opposition?

There's a famous quote attributed to James Callaghan, during the 1979 general election campaign, shortly before Labour was swept from power by Margaret Thatcher.

"You know there are times, perhaps once every 30 years, when there is a sea-change in politics," avuncular "Sunny Jim" observed shrewdly to his close aide Bernard Donoughue.

Read more:

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.

Today has already brought news of four Labour MPs announcing they won't be standing for election on 4 July.

John Spellar, MP for Smethwick and Oldbury; Barbara Keeley of Worsley and Eccles South; Kevin Brennan, from Cardiff West; and Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma are all to stand down.

Now, John Cryer, the member for Leyton and Wanstead, has decided to join them.

You can read his statement in full below...

Andy Street, the former mayor of the West Midlands, has confirmed he won't stand as a Conservative candidate in the upcoming general election.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Street said since losing the mayoral election in May, he "hasn't been able to shake the sense of overwhelming duty" to serve in a public role.

There had been speculation he might be up for running for parliament.

However, he said, he has "decided against it".

You can read his statement in full below:

Today has brought news of four Labour MPs announcing they won't be standing for election on 4 July.

John Spellar, MP for Smethwick and Oldbury; Barbara Keeley of Worsley and Eccles South; Kevin Brennan, from Cardiff West; and Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma are all to stand down.

They have all said they will support Labour's campaign.

The party's final deadline for candidate selections is 4 June - a month before voters head to the polls.

Our political editor Beth Rigby is talking us through the significance of tonight's news that former Tory MP Lucy Allan has been suspended from the party - after backing Reform UK.

She says: "Telford was where Boris Johnson set up, or kicked off the Conservative manifesto in 2019.

"[Lucy Allan] is backing Reform to win her Telford seat, and she's been suspended from the Conservative Party.

"It seems however hard Rishi Sunak tries to turn [the election] into a policy debate about the ideas he has for the country - the bold plan as he would put it - he just keeps getting knocked on to his heels by what's going on in the Conservative Party.

"Lots of MPs were very unhappy he called the election, so many standing down.

"There was a leaked document today criticising MPs about how they are fronting up the campaign (read more here).

"That was redacted by Conservative campaign headquarters.

"And then Lucy Allan backing Reform and being suspended from the party."

Beth says the problem with this is that the public are seeing Rishi Sunak as unable to get his own team "off the bench for him".

She adds: "He can't seem to get on a front foot."