Senior Tory criticises ‘worst campaign in my lifetime’ as frustration grows

Rishi Sunak accused of failing to tackle threat from Reform while candidates complain of lack of support from CCHQ

theguardian.com

Cassetteboy - PM(Ex) Gon Give It To Ya

youtube.com

@edwinhayward

This is what the front page of the Daily Mail website looks like right now.

You're going to have to do a little bit of work for the whole story, so please read the rest of the thread...

x.com

Labour raised £4.4m to Tories’ £290,000 in second week of campaign

Conservatives’ fundraising so far is a tenth of what they had received by this stage in last election

theguardian.com

The Conservatives are about to become utterly irrelevant

What Labour MPs think – about Europe, public spending and their next leader – will be the only thing that matters for at least five years, writes John Rentoul

independent.co.uk

@Yougov

Our new MRP has the Conservatives on their lowest seat tally in the party’s almost 200-year history

Labour: 425 (+223)
Conservative: 108 (-257)
Lib Dem: 67 (+56)
SNP: 20 (-28)
Reform UK: 5 (+5)
Plaid: 4 (±0)
Green: 2 (+1)

x.com

More names expected to come out in betting scandal - as Tory candidate says she will 'fully cooperate'

Two Tory candidates are already being investigated over alleged wagers placed on the date of the 4 July contest - including Laura Saunders, who is married to the head of Conservative campaigns.

news.sky.com

@AdamBienkov

New YouGov/Times poll puts Reform ahead of the Conservatives for the first time.

Lab: 37% (-1)
Reform: 19% (+2)
Con: 18% (nc)
Lib Dem: 14% (-1)
Green: 7 (-1)

Would be a huge majority for Labour with a toss up between Conservatives and Lib Dems as to who came a distant second.

x.com

How Rishi Sunak ‘Changed the Rules’ to Keep the Conservative Party in Power

The Prime Minister accused Keir Starmer of wanting to "change the rules so they're in power for a very long time", despite the Conservatives making a long list of changes to elections designed to keep them in office

bylinetimes.com

Johnson records campaign videos for his MP supporters as he continues to snub Sunak

Former PM endorsed Sir Simon Clarke who tried to depose Mr Sunak earlier this year, warning the Tories faced electoral ‘massacre’ if he stayed

independent.co.uk

@kim_harding@mastodon.scot

A useful reminder from Led By Donkeys of who Sunak is and where he got his wealth...

mastodon

Conservatives halt digital ad campaigns for election after daily spend plunged

The disappearance of social media advertising comes as Rishi Sunak faces heavy criticism for missing D-Day events

independent.co.uk

Brecon: Fay Jones defends Rishi Sunak but says campaigning is tough

Fay Jones says her party has made a number of mistakes including Mr Sunak's decision to leave a D-Day event early.

bbc.co.uk

Sunak criticised by statistics watchdog for £2,000 Labour tax claim

Public has ‘no way of knowing’ truth about figure and how it was produced, says OSR

telegraph.co.uk

Sunak ‘lets country down’ by skipping D-Day event, says Normandy veteran

Rishi Sunak apologised for leaving 80th anniversary events in France before the main international ceremony with fellow world leaders.

standard.co.uk

Nigel Farage may be about to pull off a once-in-a-century political realignment

We could be just days away from a tipping point in the polls when Reform overtakes the Conservatives

telegraph.co.uk

James Cleverly admits Tories may have flown Union Jack wrong way up in election video

The Home Secretary was grilled on the flag blunder on live TV

standard.co.uk

@TomHCalver

Because Labour's lead is so large nationally, the front line of this election has shifted deep into Tory territory.

Seats with 15,000 vote majorities are now toss ups; even 20,000 is no guarantee. The only "small majority" seats the Tories hold are in Scotland.

x.com

Nigel Farage to run as Reform UK candidate in Clacton

The ex-Brexit Party leader says he has changed his mind and does not want to let his supporters down.

bbc.co.uk

@AllieHBNews

MAIL On Sunday: “Tories’ S.O.S. To Rishi: Give Us Tax Cuts Now” #TomorrowPapersToday

x.com

Officials warned Sunak about prisons crisis 's**tshow' months before he acted

Murder, manslaughter and rape 'inevitable' because of delayed early release scheme, say probation officers

inews.co.uk

I was with Liz Truss in No 10 – here’s how the Tory blame game will play out

Asa Bennett, who was in the Downing Street bunker during the unravelling of the Truss premiership, says the Conservatives’ post-election postmortem will be vicious – and will reshape the party for a generation

independent.co.uk

Conservative Mark Logan defects to Labour - saying 'we need a new government'

Dan Poulter and Natalie Elphicke have also defected from the Conservatives to Labour recently, in a series of blows for Rishi Sunak.

news.sky.com

@MumsnetTowers

How do Mumsnet users feel about Rishi Sunak & Keir Starmer? We asked MumsGPT, our AI-powered question tool, to summarise the words Mumsnetters have used the most when talking about both leaders since the general election was called last week 👇

x.com

Rishi Sunak wears £750 backpack to one of country's poorest areas

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was spotted with a luxury Tumi backpack monogrammed with his initials 'RS' as he got on the sleeper train to campaign in Penzance in Cornwall

mirror.co.uk

Conservatives admit sending email critical of own MPs 'in error'

The message, first reported by the Times, accused one MP of "refusing to engage" with the general election campaign and raised questions about a minister's "cooperation".

news.sky.com

UK general election live: 75 Tory MPs to stand down — matching 1997 exodus

The figure has now reached the number who stood down in the run-up to Tony Blair’s landslide victory

thetimes.co.uk

Captaining a sinking ship - The Prime Minister's shambolic visit to NI

From press being sent to the wrong location to confusion around when interviews would take place, the writers of The Thick of It would have had plenty of material to work with

belfastlive.co.uk

Cassetteboy - Tory-Zero (Rishi's Version)

youtube.com

@PGMcNamara

NEW

Conservative HQ have emailed asking for candidates in almost 100 seats

When candidates ask when the deadline is, they have been told it’s 48 hours, according to 2 I’ve spoken to

Some Tory associations are pretty livid at having been left in such an unprepared situation

x.com

Questioners at Sunak warehouse speech turn out to be Tory councillors

First campaign day marked by concerns about 'plants' in audience and PM putting Euros foot in mouth in Wales

theguardian.com

Gaffe at brewery marks the end of Rishi Sunak’s first day of campaigning

After some tetchy interviews the PM flew to all four nations, while Starmer and Davey focused on voters' desire for change

theguardian.com

No10 refuses to honour Sunak’s £1,000 Rwanda flights bet with Piers Morgan

Downing Street points out that one asylum seeker has gone there voluntarily

telegraph.co.uk

@YouGov

Latest Westminster voting intention (21-22 May, all fieldwork conducted prior to the election announcement)

Con: 21% (+1 from 15-16 May)
Lab: 46% (-1)
Reform UK: 12% (+1)
Lib Dem: 9% (=)
Green: 7% (-1)
SNP: 3% (=)

x.com

Rishi Sunak's smoking ban bill set to be shelved due to election

Rishi Sunak's flagship ban on smoking for people born after 2009 runs out of time to pass into law.

bbc.co.uk

Rwanda flights will not take off before election, says Rishi Sunak

Assertion that flights will not begin until after 4 July poll prompts despair from Tories on right of party

theguardian.com

Rishi Sunak refused funding to fix extra 150 crumbling schools a year, minister admits

Schools minister Nick Gibb says the Department for Education put forward a bid to rebuild 200 schools a year but the Prime Minister rejected it

inews.co.uk