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Election latest: Elton John backs Labour and Starmer in general election; Sunak gives very personal speech at London temple

Sir Elton John endorsed the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer in a video message at a major Labour campaign rally in London. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak was mobbed by worshippers at a temple in London.

Saturday 29 June 2024 23:07, UK

• General Election 2024

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• Sir Elton John endorses the Labour Party
• Farage urged to 'get a grip' of Reform UK
• Reform canvasser in PM racism row says he was 'a total fool'
• Rob Powell:  With more coverage comes more scrutiny
• Faultlines:   Eight-hour school runs and kids too hungry to sleep - the families caught up in housing 'social cleansing'
• Politics at Jack and Sam's : The last weekend
• Live reporting by Ben Bloch and Jess Sharp

Election essentials

• Manifesto pledges: Conservatives | Greens | Labour | Lib Dems | Plaid | Reform | SNP
• Trackers:  Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Campaign Heritage:  Memorable moments from elections gone by
• Follow Sky's politics podcasts:  Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more:  Who is standing down? | Key seats to watch | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency is changing | Guide to election lingo
• How to watch election on Sky News

Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for live coverage of events on the general election campaign trail today.

Polls open in 4 days and 8 hours - and the politicians will be spending every last moment fighting for your vote.

Scroll down for all of today's developments - and we'll be back from 7am with the very latest.

And join us tomorrow from 8.30am on Sky News for  Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips , where we will be hearing from:

• Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden ;
• Labour's national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden ;
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage ;
• SNP leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney .

Pledges and promises are coming thick and fast from every party as the general election approaches. 

Struggling to keep up with who is saying what?

Here is a summary of where the main parties stand on major issues.

For a more in-depth look at what each party has pledged, scour our  manifesto checker ...

TV presenter Rylan Clark has said he would "love" to become a politician - and replace the party system with a "Power Rangers of government" model.

The TV personality, 35, joined political editor Beth Rigby and former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Ruth Davidson for this week's Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast.

Asked if he would ever consider the career change, he said: "If I wasn't in the job that I was in, I would love nothing more."

Rylan, who won Celebrity Big Brother and also appeared on the X Factor, appeared on the podcast in place of Labour candidate Jess Phillips after tweeting his praise for Rigby on the day Rishi Sunak announced the general election.

Sharing a clip of her and Sky presenter Sophy Ridge outside a rainy Downing Street waiting for Mr Sunak to appear at the lectern, he said: "Obsessed with the Rigby."

Speaking to her and Davidson, he said his "obsession" with politics began with Brexit - "as we've seen so many promises which weren't fulfilled" since then.

He added: "I lie there at night sometimes, and I think about [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy. He hosted one of the same shows I've hosted in Ukraine."

The TV presenter also shared his idea of abandoning political parties altogether.

Read the full story here: 

A short while ago, Rishi Sunak gave a speech BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, also known as Neasden Temple, which is a traditional Hindu temple in London.

Rishi Sunak, who is of the Hindu faith, told attendees: "Like all of you, I draw inspiration and comfort from my faith.

"I was proud to be sworn in as a member of parliament on the Bhagavad Gita [one of Hinduism's most prominent sacred texts].

"Our faith teaches us to do our duty, and not fret about the outcome as long as one does it faithfully."

"My family also strengthen my commitment to service," the PM said.

He spoke about the philanthropic work that his mother-in-law does in India, and praises his wife as "the greatest support that any husband could ever have" and "someone committed to a life of service".

To the attendees, Mr Sunak said: "I want to start by thanking all of you for your support, your prayers, and your love. You have been with me every step of the way.

"On the hardest days in this job, I have felt your backing, and I know the pride that it is to have a British-Asian prime minister, and I am determined to never let you down."

The PM argued that so many Indians are Conservatives because "our values bind us together", citing education, hard work, and family.

Mr Sunak said: "One of my most memorable moments of the last few years came on Diwali, sixty years after my [grandmother] boarded a plane in East Africa - her first ever, all by herself - to come ahead and make a new life for her family here in this country.

"Sixty years after that moment, her great-granddaughters, my girls, they played in the street outside our home."

They "had fun like so many other families do on Diwali - except, the street that they were playing in was Downing Street".

In reference to the racial slur a Reform UK campaigner had used about him, he said that the "events of the last few days should not make us forget that the United Kingdom is the world's most successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith democracy, and we should all by uplifted by that".

In conclusion, the PM said: "Thank you for all your support. I can only hope that I can make you all proud every day."

Even by Reform's standards, the frequency and ferocity of attacks flying out from the party has stepped up today.

We've had complaints going into Ofcom, the Electoral Commission and Essex Police.

The BBC boycotted, Channel 4 reported, and a former campaigner cut adrift.

This tells you more about Nigel Farage's mindset than his decision to suspend three candidates over online posts.

So, five days from the election, will these seemingly rolling controversies shift many votes?

Much like the row over the Reform leader's comments on Russia and Putin, that probably depends on how fully signed up you are to the party’s agenda.

For the diehards, talk of an establishment stitch-up will find sympathetic and supportive ears.

But wavering Tories dabbling with Reform may be queasier about all this talk of racism and a big media conspiracy.

One final point.

A fortnight ago, Nigel Farage demanded to be treated as one of the big players in this election, citing a poll putting him ahead of the Tories.

But with more coverage comes more scrutiny.

You can construct a fair argument that that's exactly what Reform has been exposed to in the last week.

We've also had the results in from a poll carried out by Opinium for The Observer. 

Similarly to the Savanta poll we mentioned in our previous post, it found Labour was still in the lead and the Conservatives remain unchanged. 

However, it found support for Labour hadn't dipped and was still the same at 40%. 

Reform UK were up one point to 17%, the Greens fell three points to 6% and the Lib Dems and SNP remained unchanged. 

 Labour has fallen four points to 38% - the party's lowest share since Rishi Sunak became prime minister - in a Savanta poll for the Sunday Telegraph. 

But, it still holds a 17 point lead over the Conservatives, who were unchanged on 21%, indicating a landslide majority for Sir Keir Starmer. 

"This is our lowest Labour vote share since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, and the Conservatives for their part do appear to have slowed or stopped their downward spiral," said Savanta's political research director Chris Hopkins. 

"However, that's where the good news ends for the prime minister, as if this vote share was replicated on polling day, Labour would still likely have a majority of over 200." 

Here's how some of the other parties did in the poll: 

• Reform UK unchanged on 14%
• Liberal Democrats up one point on 11%
• Green Party up one point on 6% 
• SNP down one point on 2%
• Others up one on 7%

Mr Hopkins said the increase in vote share for the Greens and independent candidates is "notable".

"Not because it will have an impact on this election in any significant way, but could point towards trouble for the Labour Party in government and over the coming years," he added. 

Some 2,092 UK adults were polled from 26-28 June. The comparison is with an earlier poll conducted from 21-24 June. 

Thank you for watching tonight's edition of Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue .

We heard from:

• Mark Spencer , Conservative candidate and farming minister;
• Sir Anthony Seldon , educator and contemporary historian.

And on the panel were:

• Max Wilson , former Labour political adviser;
• Claire Pearsall , former Tory adviser.

Scroll down for all the key moments and highlights - and stick with us here in the digital Politics Hub for the latest political news throughout the evening.

Sir Anthony Seldon is our next guest on Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue .

He has penned a new book entitled '2010-2024: 14 wasted years?', and we ask for his reflections on the Tory years in power.

He says there were some good things, such as in education where standards rose, "aspects of pensions, aspects of science, aspects of the arts, Universal Credit".

But he goes on: "Overall, growth and productivity has been stagnant since the global financial crisis of 2007-8, and if we look at health, if we look at transport, if we look at housing, if we look at the state of defence, if we look at Britain's position in the world - we don't see the different historians and academics who wrote the book... there isn't the kind of significant change in the standard of all those various areas and other that we have tended to see in long periods of Tory government in the past."

He says there have been "some progressive, important, and incremental changes, but overall a disappointing performance, frankly".

"It's hard to think of any period of single-party domination by the Conservative Party that has achieved less than the party's achieved since 2010."

Infighting has been partly to blame, and it is also a party that is "unsure what it believes in" and is "confused", Sir Anthony says.

He also says "the flip flop" of policies and ideological direction has been a problem.

"There were so many opportunities that the Conservative government could have had for consistent and thoughtful policymaking, and it simply hasn't happened."

Despite the "stability" brought by Rishi Sunak and Lord Cameron, Labour is on track for "a very significant victory" on Thursday.

He notes that no party since 1832 have ever won five general elections in a row, and adds: "It is going to be a colossal Labour victory, akin to 1945."

Celebrities endorsing political parties is not a new phenomenon, but Sir Elton John publicly backing Labour today has got people thinking - do they actually help things shift? 

Max Wilson, former Labour political adviser, tells the Politics Hub With Ali Fortescue that endorsements from the famous are a "good thing".

But, he says that they are unlikely to "shift the dial" or increase the number of votes. 

"It is a nice thing to have, but I don't think it is a prerequisite to winning," he adds. 

Former Tory adviser Claire Pearsall feels the idea has "really gone out of fashion". 

"It has sort of slid away over the years... I would be more impressed if it was sort of Margaret from Burnley telling us exactly why she's voting for whichever party," she adds. 

"We're now in the realms of understanding that real people want to see people like them." 

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