Election latest: Rishi Sunak's D-Day 'mistake' his 'Gillian Duffy' moment, Nigel Farage says (2024)

As the Tory battle bus pulled into a school in the Gloucestershire town of Stonehouse, the reporters and camera crews onboard immediately scuttled off up the road in the opposite direction of the campaign stop.

Their interest had been piqued not by the presence of a politician, but by a road sign.

After a tense interview in the playground of a Swindon nursery in which Rishi Sunak had been forced to apologise for leaving D-Day commemoration events early - something criticised as offensive by politicians and military folk alike - his next campaign stop was on a street called "Veterans Way".

Election campaigns often progress in peaks and troughs with errors and lapses of judgement giving rise to other awkward situations which - without the background controversy - would have at one point been totally irrelevant and innocuous.

They can also throw up strange sights - like that of three national broadcast camera crews filming a sign in the middle of the Gloucestershire countryside while an exasperated Tory official glumly looks on.

You know what they say, prime minister - it never rains.

By Jennifer Scott, political reporter

Labour is promising to get more young people on the housing ladder as it announces its "freedom to buy" scheme.

The party is pledging to make the existing mortgage guarantee scheme- which sees the government act as a guarantor for people unable to save big deposits - into a permanent fixture if it wins the election on 4 July.

Sir Keir Starmer is also committing to an overhaul of the planning system, including reintroducing housing targets, claiming his measures will see 1.5 million more homes built over the next five years.

"After 14 years of Conservative government, the dream of home ownership is out of reach for too many hard-working people," he said.

"Despite doing everything right, they can't move on and up. A generation faces becoming renters for life.

"My parents' home gave them security and was a foundation for our family. As prime minister, I will turn the dream of owning a home into a reality."

Read more here:

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.

Nigel Farage has claimed that the furore over Rishi Sunak leaving D-Day commemorations early yesterday was the prime minister's "Gillian Duffy moment" (see post at 2pm).

So what better time than to look back at this classic piece of campaign heritage?

Politics loves a "gate" and none were as impactful on the 2010 campaign as one that may have marked the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown.

"Bigotgate" was born after the then prime minister described a voter airing concerns about immigration in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman".

Mr Brown muttered it after an exchange with her on camera, not realising he was still being picked up by a microphone, and the comment was subsequently broadcast.

Previous entry: Boris Johnson hides in a fridge

By Jennifer Scott and Tim Baker, political reporters

Over in Essex, the drama has been ramping up regarding the selection of Tory party chairman Richard Holden as the candidate for Basildon and Billericay.

You may remember there was fury from the local Conservative association after the party's HQ presented them with a shortlist of just one candidate - if you don't, let our chief political correspondent Jon Craig fill you in.

And now today - on the day all parties' candidates need to be finalised by the 4pm deadline - reports have suggested there have been enough complaints to call an emergency meeting about ousting Mr Holden.

We have spoken to some people in the know about the association upset, and while they confirmed there had been a sufficient number of complaints, they told us there was not enough time to hold a meeting, let alone to deselect Mr Holden and reselect a new candidate.

But while they may have accepted their lot with the party chairman, there is still much anger with Tory HQ...

The full list of candidates standing in Basildon and Billericay is below:

• Christopher Bateman - British Democratic Party
• Stephen Conlay - Reform UK
• Stewart Goshawk - Green Party
• Alex Harrison - Labour Party
• Richard Holden - Conservative and Unionist Party
• Edward Sainsbury - Liberal Democrats

The Lib Dems have hit photoshop today, altering a photo from the D-Day commemorations in Normandy yesterday to take aim at the prime minister.

Rishi Sunak is under fire after leaving the anniversary events early, later going on to give a TV interview.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron took his place, joining world leaders including US President Joe Biden for the remainder of the events.

And it's a picture of former prime minister Lord Cameron standing alongside leaders like Germany's Olaf Scholz, Mr Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron which has been doctored by the Lib Dems.

Mr Cameron has been removed and replaced with an empty space representing the prime minister.

It's captioned "dereliction of duty" - a criticism levelled at the prime minister a number of times today.

Mr Sunak has apologised for leaving early, describing it as a "mistake".

Nigel Farage has described the furore over the prime minister leaving D-Day commemorations early yesterday as his "Gillian Duffy moment".

He was referring to an infamous election campaign fiasco in which then prime minister Gordon Brown shared his less-than-flattering view of lifelong Labour voter Gillian Duffy.

In perhaps the best-known hot-mic moment in British politics, Mr Brown called Ms Duffy a "bigoted woman".

It was a bombshell moment for a prime minister already having a tough 2010 general election campaign.

Now, Reform UK's new leader Mr Farage has said Rishi Sunak has had his own such moment.

"This is the Gillian Duffy moment .... it was a catastrophe for Gordon Brown," he told ITV.

"The one thing people have always associated the Conservative Party with is being basically patriotic.

"It's led by a man who very clearly isn't."

Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will take part in a special leaders' event programme next week, Sky News has confirmed.

The Battle For Number 10, a UK Election Leaders Special Event, will be aired on Wednesday 12 June.

The event will be live from Grimsby in front of an audience.

The new Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency is complex andlikely to be a key battleground in the election.

If you would like to be part of this studio audience, and be given the opportunity to ask a question to one of the party leaders, please complete the short questionnaire inthis link.

Sky News will put the main candidates vying to lead the country under scrutiny in front of a representative audience drawn from the local area and nationally.

The two men will look to pitch to voters in an in-depth interview before answering questions from the audience.

It's been a busy start to the day today as politicians hit the campaign trail once again after a pause for D-Day commemorations.

And it is D-Day which is dominating the conversation today, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak under fire for leaving anniversary events in Normandy early yesterday.

Here is what you may have missed:

• The prime minister has apologised for leaving the commemorations, describing it as a "mistake";
• However, he denied reports his team considered cancelling his attendance entirely, saying "that's simply not right";
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said Mr Sunak "will have to answer for his actions";
• Speaking of his own attendance at the events, he said "there was nowhere else I was going to be";
• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey accused Mr Sunak of abandoning veterans "on the beaches";
• Scotland's First Minister John Swinney called the PM's D-Day decision "breathtakingly terrible";
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accused Mr Sunak of not being a "patriotic leader of the Conservative Party";
• Veterans minister Johnny Mercer admitted it was a "significant mistake", but said it was not "reflective" of the PM's record on veterans.

Sky News is also looking for people to be in the audience for its leaders' programme with Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.

The Battle For Number 10 will air from 7pm next Wednesday.

Here are some other stories you might want to read:

You can also listen to our latest episode of Electoral Dysfunction.

Labour grandee Harriet Harman joins Beth Rigby and Ruth Davidson as the first Friday sub for Jess Phillips during the election period.

They break down the Labour tax row that has dogged both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer since the first leaders' debate earlier this week, give their take on the impact Nigel Farage standing in Clacton-on-Sea will have on the campaign, and lift the curtain on how the parties will be writing their manifestos.

Listen here:

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Our essential political podcast,Politics At Jack And Sam's,is going out every weekday through the election campaign to bring a short burst of everything you need to know about the day ahead as this election unfolds.

Listen to the latest edition below…

Tap here to follow Politics At Jack At Sam's wherever you get your podcasts.

Labour veteran Harriet Harman has told Sky News she wants to be made a peer, after spending more than 40 years in the House of Commons.

Ms Harman announced she would be standing down at the current election.

Speaking to theElectoral Dysfunction podcastwith Beth Rigby and Ruth Davidson, they were joking about Ms Harman going into the upper chamber.

"I hope so," she replied.

Ms Davidson - who is herself in the Lords - said that Ms Harman would be "such an addition" to the upper chamber.

But Ms Harman said it's important "not to count our chickens before they hatch".

She would not be drawn on what title she would take - pointing out there was already a Lord of Peckham (where her parliamentary seat was).

And it was also akin to "measuring up the curtains for Downing Street when they haven't won the election".

"I've got to be, like, coyly, modestly waiting for that moment if it comes - the dissolution honours, as it's called," she said.

You can listen to this week's full episode of Electoral Dysfunction here:

👉Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts👈

You can also read more here:

Nigel Farage has accused Rishi Sunak of not being a "patriotic leader of the Conservative Party" after leaving D-Day commemorations in Normandy early yesterday.

The new Reform UK leader said the decision "says a lot" about the prime minister.

"He is completely disconnected from the centre of this country, and he's proved to me that he basically is not a patriotic leader of the Conservative Party," he said.

Mr Farage went on to claim he was "more closely connected to the emotions of this country" than the prime minister.

He said he attended the D-Day commemorations in a private capacity.

"It's about whether you feel part of this country, its history, its culture, its heritage, what you want to hand on to future generations," he said.

"I was there because I care.

"I would say I'm much more closely connected to the emotions of this country than he is."

He also addressed the milkshake which was thrown at him in Essex earlier this week.

He said "it's not much fun", adding that he has dealt with similar situations "so many times before".

"Does it make me thoughtful? Yes. Will it stop me? No," he said.