Royal seating plan reveals intriguing choice
Welcome to the daily ITV News digest direct from the campaign trail. Each afternoon we'll bring you analysis and insight from across the nation as the General Election 2024 enters its final stages.
Hi, Chris Ship here, ITV’s Royal Editor. You might be wondering why I’m writing today’s briefing given the Royals are strictly neutral on matters of politics.
Well, last night at Buckingham Palace, the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet plus the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties were all attending a State Banquet in honour of the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
What was noteworthy from our tour of the tables in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom just before the guests arrived for their starters was who was sitting next to whom.
Sir Keir Starmer was seated next to the King’s Principal Private Secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, the king's most trusted adviser.
The Prime Minister meanwhile, was placed next to Dame Wendy Hall, a celebrated computer scientist from his home town of Southampton.
Given the King will, at the end of next week, be asking one or other leader to form the next government, it was an interesting choice of seating plan.
If there is a clear result next week, King Charles will either meet his current prime minister and ask him to form a new administration or he'll meet him to bid farewell and invite the Labour leader to form His Majesty’s Government…
For more analysis on the day’s events, check out Talking Politics, our daily podcast from the campaign live from 4pm on ITVX, hosted today by Presenter Nina Hossain, with Robert Peston and Anushka Asthana. Or watch on demand on ITVX or where you listen to your podcasts.
Thanks for reading and enjoy some of the best content brought to you by the rest of the ITV News team below.
Cabinet minister says he placed bets on election date
The Westminster gambling row has deepened after a Cabinet minister revealed he had placed bets on the date of the General Election.
Scotland Secretary Alister Jack denied having broken any rules but said he put three wagers on the timing of the July 4 vote, becoming the latest of seven politicians and officials to get drawn in to the controversy.
He said: “As I have said previously, I placed no bets in May and am not under investigation by the Gambling Commission.”
There are growing calls for a review into election betting - led by Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey who, in an interview with ITV News, admitted he had placed bets in the past.
Rishi Sunak yesterday caved to mounting calls from within the Tory Party to withdraw support for two parliamentary candidates facing a Gambling Commission investigation.
A Greenpeace protester this afternoon used a ladder to climb on to the roof of the Tory battle bus in Nottinghamshire with a flag bearing the words “clean power not paddy power”.
And Labour has also become entangled in the controversy, with the party suspending its candidate Kevin Craig after it emerged he had bet that he would lose to the Tories in the contest for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Sunak go head-to-head tonight in a BBC election debate - the last TV face-off between them of the campaign.
Keep across the latest on the campaign on our website, on ITVX and follow @itvpolitics across our social media channels.
Families in limbo as builders battle blockers (but don’t call them Nimbys)
ITV News Investigations Editor Daniel Hewitt has been travelling across the country to dig into the issues that people are facing - issues that are shaping how they’ll vote come July 4.
His latest report examines housing: are we building enough, how desperate is the situation for tens of thousands of people, is where many live fit for purpose?
Daniel hears from Lucy, a mum of two, living in Frome, Somerset: “Our plan was always to save up for a mortgage and buy, but it's just a pipedream now,” says Lucy.
She works, as does her partner. They have two children - and all of them are living back in Lucy’s childhood home, with her parents.
There are plans to build 1,700 homes in Frome - but there’s an ongoing fight between the builders and the blockers (don’t call them Nimbys).
You can read more here and watch his report on ITVX.
The ITV News team has taken a close look at what the parties have promised to do about the housing situation - watch it on catch-up on ITVX.
Starmer tells ITV: ‘I want to be PM for a decade’
Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to be prime minister for 10 years.
In an interview with ITV's Tonight programme, the Labour leader - who’d be 71 by then - says: "I'm determined to see this through. I've certainly got the energy and the intent of steel."
Asked whether his party's promise of a 'decade of national renewal' meant the Labour leader wanted to serve in Downing Street for ten years, he replied: "Of course."
ITV's Tonight programme is profiling leaders of Great Britain's largest political parties during the election campaign.
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Doctor Who clash, staying alive and 8am scrums - Day 35 of the campaign
Rishi Sunak has intervened in a row between his equalities minister and Doctor Who star David Tennant.
The PM stepped in to rebuke Tennant who said Kemi Badenoch should “shut up” and that he wanted a world where Badenoch "doesn't exist anymore".
The prime minister waded in on X saying: “If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.”
Meanwhile, in health-related matters, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey spent the morning brushing up on his CPR skills in Chelmsford.
He said he wanted to introduce a specialist cancer nurse for every cancer patient.
And, Labour’s Wes Streeting, the shadow health minister, pledged they would look to end the “8am scrum” for a GP appointment.
Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Streeting met three patients at Long Lane Surgery GP practice in Coalville in the East Midlands.
“Ooh, this is a surprise,” one exclaimed as the Labour leader and shadow health secretary walked over to sit with them in the surgery’s sunny courtyard.
Earlier in the day, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis grilled Conservative minister Mel Stride on the Tory tax plans on Good Morning Britain.
You can keep across the latest from the campaign trail on ITVX.
More 50,000 people make Channel crossing since Sunak took power
More than 50,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, including over 13,000 so far this year.
Home Office figures show 144 people made the journey in three boats on Tuesday, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 13,045.
This is already a record for the first six months of a calendar year.
It is also 16% higher than the number recorded by this time last year (11,278) and up 7% on the same period in 2022 (12,206), according to PA news agency analysis of government figures.
ITV News’ Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker has picked out some of the key issues and policies on immigration - including the asylum backlog, illegal boat crossings and foreign student visas.
And Correspondent Daniel Hewitt visited Liverpool earlier in the campaign to see for himself some of the challenges immigration place on cities.
What’s coming up…
Thursday June 27: Junior doctors in England to go on strike. It will be the 11th walk out in the long-running dispute.
Friday June 28: Office for National Statistics to confirm first quarter GDP figures.
Wednesday July 3: Last full day of campaigning for parties.
Thursday July 4: General Election day - polls open 7am, close 10pm.
And finally… battle for Britain’s oldest town (and newest city)
Colchester is famous for being Britain's earliest recorded town, the Roman Camulodunum, but only recently became a city, for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
It has been held by the Tories for nine years by the former MP Will Quince, who secured a majority of more than 9,000 votes in 2019, but has decided to leave Parliament.
Now former Olympic rower James Cracknell is running - but it's likely to be a three-way battle, with Pam Cox for Labour and Martin Goss for the Lib Democrats.
You can read more about the historic seat on the ITV News Anglia website and watch a report from the city on ITVX.