Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head with Sir Keir Starmer in a TV debate tonight as he strives to turn his party’s fortunes around.
But with four weeks to go, the debate on ITV may represent a last chance for the PM and the Tories after a major YouGov poll suggested Sir Keir was on course to win more seats than Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide victory.
It comes as Mr Sunak has promised to reduce immigration as he unveiled a new visa cap pledge, while Sir Keir vowed that Labour’s proposed GB Energy company would “close the door” on Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Hours before Sir Keir joins the TV debate, it’s emerged that two Labour candidates are set to be deselected at a meeting of the National Executive Committee. Edward Batterbury, who was selected for Gosport, and Darren Rodwell, for the parliamentary seat of Barking, are to be dropped by the party, Sky News has reported.
A decision on Mr Rodwell will follow an investigation launched by the party into an allegation of sexual harassment, exclusively revealed by The Independent on Monday. Mr Rodwell has responded, writing in an statement on X: “I utterly refute what is being said.”
