UK News

Nigel Farage had a drink thrown over him after launching his personal election campaign in Clacton-on-Sea. The Reform UK leader was leaving a pub after carrying out media interviews when a woman – who only gave her name as Victoria to reporters – poured the drink over his suit jacket. The veteran politician was walking to the Reform UK party ...

John Swinney will urge people to “vote SNP to put Scotland’s interests first” as he formally launches the party’s general election campaign. Mr Swinney will tell activists and candidates at a rally in Glasgow later that Westminster decision-making has meant “austerity, Brexit and a cost of living crisis being imposed on Scotland”. Scotland’s first minister will stress his belief in ...

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to cut levels of net migration to the UK if his party wins the general election. The Labour leader said he would introduce new laws to train British workers to plug skills gaps in the job market and strengthen anti-exploitation laws. He did not put a timeframe or a target figure on his promise, but ...

The Conservatives have pledged to give 30 towns across the UK £20m each in an expansion of its levelling-up policy, if the party is re-elected. Areas including Tamworth, Halifax, Newtown and Perth would benefit from the funding, with local people deciding how it would be used. But Labour branded the levelling-up pledge a “phoney gimmick” that had failed to deliver ...

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said Diane Abbott is “free to go forward as a Labour candidate”, ending days of speculation about the veteran left-winger’s future. Ms Abbott, the first female black MP, had claimed she had been banned from standing for Labour at the general election on 4 July. Sir Keir has now given Ms Abbott his blessing ...

Former Conservative MP Mark Logan has said he is backing Labour at the next general election, saying the party could “bring back optimism into British life”. In an exclusive interview with BBC News, Mr Logan, who represented Bolton North East for the Tories until Parliament dissolved on Thursday, said Labour had been on a “journey” and now offered “centrist politics”. ...

The British parliament dissolved on Thursday ahead of a July 4 general election, which looks set to bring Labour to power after 14 years of Conservative rule. Five weeks of campaigning officially began as 650 seats of members of parliament (MPs) became vacant at one minute past midnight (2301 GMT) in line with the electoral schedule. The first week of ...

Keir Starmer has denied that Diane Abbott has been banned from standing as a Labour MP at the next election, as the saga over the potential end to her 40-year career in the party risked descending into chaos. The Labour leader’s comments directly contradicted newspaper briefings that the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, who was suspended from the party ...

The Conservatives have promised to scrap some university courses in England to help fund 100,000 apprenticeships per year if they win the July election. The party says it would replace the “worst-performing” degrees that it considers a “rip-off” because of high drop-out rates and “poor” job prospects. Labour criticised the government over a decline in the number of new apprentices. ...

Sir Keir Starmer has promised voters he will “fight for you” and put “country first, party second”. In his first major speech since the general election was called, the Labour leader said he could be trusted because he had “changed this party permanently”. And he urged people to trust him to deliver economic stability and protect national security. Rishi Sunak ...