Election latest: Dropped Tory candidate vows to 'clear name' - as Badenoch hits back at Doctor Who star (2024)

Wales is a Labour heartland, but it's clearly in the sights of other parties during this election campaign.

Reform UK even launched its manifesto in a town in the south of the country, Merthyr Tydfil.

Although Wales has its own parliament and makes most of its own decisions, they still elect MPs who stand in Westminster.

Sky's Wales reporter Tomos Evans explains how the cost of living, steel industry and nuclear energy will be key issues for voters.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

It shows a drop in support in recent days for Labour and the Tories - with a jump for Reform and the Liberal Democrats.

Read more about the tracker here.

Last night, actor David Tennant urged Kemi Badenoch - the minister for women and equalities - to "shut up" as he accepted the celebrity ally accolade at the British LGBT Awards.

Accepting the trophy, the Doctor Who star said "we shouldn't live in a world" where "acknowledging everyone has the right to be who they want to be" should merit an award.

But "until we wake up, and Kemi Badenoch doesn't exist any more", he said he was happy to receive it.

"I don't wish ill of her - I just wish she would shut up," he said of Ms Badenoch.

He went on to say Pride is a "family affair" for him, adding: "We have skin in the game."

But Ms Badenoch has now responded to his comments, saying: "I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls."

Posting on X, she described him as a "rich, lefty, white male celebrity who can't see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end".

"Tennant is one of Labour's celebrity supporters," she added. "This is an early example of what life will be like if they win."

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

The Conservatives have withdrawn support for two candidates who are being investigated over placing election bets.

There are strict rules around gambling.

Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 deals with cheating and says a person commits an offence if they cheat at gambling or do "anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling".

It adds: "It is immaterial whether a person who cheats improves his changes of winning anything, or wins anything."

Cheating is defined as an "actual or attempted deception or interference in connection with the process by which gambling is conducted, or a real or virtual game, race or other event or process to which gambling relates".

Someone found guilty of cheating at gambling can be imprisoned for a maximum of two years and/or fined, or six months in prison for a lesser offence.

Betting with insider knowledge is also not allowed as an MP, with the MPs' code of conduct prohibiting members from "causing significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the house".

Craig Williams, who has been dropped by the Tories as a candidate over betting on the election timing, said he had "committed an error of judgement, not an offence".

He insisted: "I intend to clear my name".

In a video statement shared on X, the candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr said he "remains on the ballot paper" for the election on 4 July.

After being dropped by the Conservative Party, Mr Williams will likely stand as an independent candidate in the constituency.

"I committed an error of judgement, not an offence, and I want to reiterate my apology directly to you," he says.

"I am co-operating with the routine inquiries for the Gambling Commission and I intend to clear my name."

Mr Williams is one of two Conservative candidates the party has withdrawn support for in the wake of the scandal, the other being Bristol North West hopeful Laura Saunders.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: "As a result of ongoing internal enquiries, we have concluded that we can no longer support Craig Williams or Laura Saunders as parliamentary candidates at the forthcoming general election.

"We have checked with the Gambling Commission that this decision does not compromise the investigation that they are conducting, which is rightly independent and ongoing."

The other candidates in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr are:

• Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Green Party
• Oliver Lewis, Reform UK
• Glyn Preston, Lib Dems
• Elwyn Vaughan, Plaid Cymru
• Steve Witherden, Labour

And those standing in Bristol North West are:

• Caroline Gooch, Lib Dems
• Darren Jones, Labour
• Scarlett O'Connor, Reform UK
• Mary Page, Green Party
• Ben Smith, SDP

A new voter intention poll, carried out by JL Partners, suggests Reform might be falling back in support.

The pollsters asked 2,005 adults in Britain for their opinion between Friday last week and yesterday.

It was on Friday that Reform leader Nigel Farage said the West had "provoked" Vladimir Putin into invading Ukraine - a move that was condemned widely across much of the UK political spectrum.

The results show Reform support down three percentage points compared to the week before, sitting at 15%.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, are up two points and Labour are up one.

JL Partners never showed Reform as having more support than the Tories, as some pollsters have done.

By Tom Cheshire, online campaign correspondent

There are two ways to reach voters online: pay for your adverts to end up in front of them - or produce content yourself that gets attention.

Throughout the election, we've been tracking the first of those. Labour have been the big digital spenders, with the Conservatives second, and then everyone else a very distant third.

But throwing money at it doesn't necessarily fix the attention problem.

And some of those spending the least are getting the most interactions, with the Reform UK party doing by far the best.

Reform is also seeing the most page growth, with 32,000 new followers.

The Conservative Party by comparison has seen much slower growth, just 0.08%.

That's only 596 more people clicking follow over the course of the election, speaking to a spluttering campaign.

The Gambling Commission has sent information on five more Metropolitan Police officers to the force over the election betting scandal.

They are alleged to have placed bets relating to the timing of the general election.

One officer - who was a member of the prime minister's protection detail - was placed on restricted duties last week.

Sky News reported that additional officers were being considered as part of the investigation.

The officer who was put on restricted duties last week was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.

In a statement released in the past few moments, the Met said it remains the case that just one officer is under criminal investigation.

The force said: "We have, however, been passed information from the Gambling Commission alleging that five further officers have placed bets related to the timing of the election.

"The officers are based on the Royalty and Specialist Command, the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command and the Central West Basic Command Unit. None of them work in a close protection role.

"Decisions on whether they will be subject to any restrictions will be taken in due course."

As we reported this morning, Hollywood star Idris Elba has joined the Labour leader at an event on knife crime.

The actor has been vocal about the issue, and the party has today announced its plans for a crackdown - including a review of how blades are sold online.

Elba has since posted a video on Instagram revealing details of his conversations with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

They had a "very important" meeting with campaign organisations and victims' families to discuss "what we need to do as a country to fight this".

The Wire star added: "It was non-political, and I'm making that clear because this is a societal issue.

"But as someone that might be taking the hot seat, it was really important to hear what he had to say about his plans.

"He listened. He listened to what the organisations had to say."

Elba said he was at the event "as a concerned parent, concerned citizen", and stressed the need for "cross-party" cooperation.

"We are trying to get both sides of the political agenda to look at this, because it's something that affects all of our society," he added.

Away from the campaign, we've brought you pictures today of the Japanese emperor and empress enjoying a state visit to the UK.

It's day one of a three-day trip - and its timing is indeed unusual.

During the entire 70-year reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the country never hosted state visits during election campaigns.

As recently as 2017, a planned trip by Spain's King Felipe VI was quickly rescheduled after then prime minister Theresa May called a snap poll.

This one has still gone ahead, with Rishi Sunak and some of his top ministers taking part in the pomp and ceremony.

But Buckingham Palace did say the trip had been "slightly adapted".

Missing elements appear to be the usual Downing Street talks with the prime minister, the visitor's speech to the Palace of Westminster, and meetings with opposition leaders.

However, Labour's Sir Keir Starmer is expected to join Mr Sunak at a state banquet this evening.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said the emperor and empress's visit would not be a political one, and it was hoped it would forge "friendly relations across generations" between Japan's imperial family and the British royal family.