After a bumpy start to the Tory election campaign, day six has been somewhat smoother for Rishi Sunak.

That’s not to say the Conservative election machine isn’t on the lookout for potential missteps though.

During a TV interview in the changing room of a bowls club in Leicestershire, a hat was strategically placed to cover a name tag adorned with the blush-worthy surname “Glasscock”.

While at a homeware factory in Staffordshire, a Tory aide spotted and swiftly removed a can of Monster energy drink from a worktop where the prime minister was about to inspect some ceramics.

General election latest: Starmer gives blunt response on potentially rejoining EU

Amid a slanging match over leaders taking ‘duvet days’ early in the campaign, a photo of the Tory leader next to a giant caffeine-stuffed beverage is probably not the message the party wants to send out.

A Q&A session with staff at the factory caused little controversy.

Mr Sunak’s plan for a revamped national service came in for praise with one woman saying her two older sons would benefit from it, before adding in a brutally frank fashion “but they are more brawn than brains”.

A man who proclaimed himself the “number one forklift truck driver” asked if there could be an extra Bank Holiday for St George’s Day.

A question deftly dodged by the visiting politician.

After being drenched while announcing the election, the rain even cleared just in time for the prime minister to play a game of bowls with some pensioners in Market Bosworth.

Read more:
General Election poll tracker: Will Labour or the Conservatives win?
What was Labour’s deputy leader accused of?

With a backdrop of bunting and portraits of the late Queen, this should be safe Tory territory – especially for a leader promising tax cuts for retirees.

And to be fair, he was met with a cheer when he entered the clubhouse.

But speaking to members after – a familiar sense of inevitability started to emerge.

One man said Mr Sunak seemed a decent enough man before adding “but the country wants change… the Labour Party have got things together just as the Tories have fallen apart”.

Back on the bowling green, things started looking up for the prime minister.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

After a couple of ropey throws of his specially selected blue bowls, Mr Sunak eventually turned things around and ended up clinching victory.

Insert your political parallels here.

But it’s worth saying that only happened after the local Tory MP knocked club president Brenda’s bowl out of play.

A backbencher coming to the prime minister’s rescue. There’s something you don’t see much of nowadays.

A “jealous” man who stabbed his pregnant ex-partner after stalking her for weeks has been jailed for attempted murder – after a court heard how his victim was convinced he would kill her and her unborn child.

Daniel Mihai Popescu, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Andreea Pintili in Aberfan, Merthyr Tydfil, last December.

Ms Pintilii was 37 weeks pregnant at the time of the attack.

The 29-year-old also pleaded guilty to stalking Ms Pintili between 25 October and 6 December 2023.

He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison and a further three years on licence as part of an extended sentence. He denied an additional charge of intimidating a witness.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard on Wednesday afternoon that Popescu had been in a relationship with Andreea Pintili since about September 2020.

The prosecution said Popescu then developed a “gambling habit” and the couple separated around the time of August 2023.

Prosecuting, John Hipkin said Popescu had become “obsessed” with Ms Pintili in the months before the attack.

In one incident, on 31 October, Popescu “left two bags of his clothing outside her address”.

“He proceeded to leave her a voicemail saying, ‘Don’t touch my clothes, I’m not going from the street until you get back together with me’,” Mr Hipkin said.

“He then repeatedly knocked her window. As a result of this, the defendant was arrested and released on bail, with a condition not to contact Andreea Pintili.”

Victim ‘tried to break free’

Ms Pintili then moved to the Aberfan area but Popescu found out.

At the time, he had been staying with a man called Stephen Phillips.

The prosecution said Mr Phillips had noted how Popescu had become “agitated and annoyed over a period of time” and that he had told him he was “going to stab his ex-girlfriend’s new partner”.

“On 5 December, the defendant travelled to Moy Road, Aberfan, where Andreea Pintili was then living,” Mr Hipkin added.

“The defendant had armed himself with a knife from the address at which he was staying. The knife had a seven-to-eight-inch blade.”

Local schools and nurseries were placed under a precautionary lockdown for several hours when Popescu attacked Ms Pintili on 5 December 2023.

Officers from South Wales Police were called shortly before 9.10am to reports of a woman having been stabbed in Moy Road.

Ms Pintili sustained three superficial injuries to her thumb and two penetrating wounds to her back.

Scans revealed that her unborn child’s signs of life were normal and she was discharged from the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff the following day.

The court was shown two pieces of footage, a 19-second clip which appeared to show Popescu crouching behind a vehicle with a knife in his hand, and another which showed the attack itself.

“The defendant told her that he had a knife and was going to kill her,” Mr Hipkin told the court.

“She tried to break free but fell to the floor. The defendant then proceeded to stab her a number of times.

“Perhaps fortunately a woman named Kira Terrett was walking her dog nearby. She screamed and ran to try and help and with that the defendant then ran off.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

‘He wasn’t going to stop until he killed me and my unborn child’

In a victim’s statement read out in court on her behalf, Ms Pintili said she felt “lucky to be alive after this harrowing experience”.

“I have no doubt that, had he got me into the house, he would have killed me. This was clearly his intention that day, to kill me and my unborn child,” she added.

“He was very jealous and couldn’t handle the fact we’d split up and I had no intention of ever getting back with him. He wasn’t going to stop until he killed me.”

She said the attack had left her feeling “very anxious when leaving the house” and that she had to “relive this day over and over”.

In mitigation, Mr David Aubrey KC said Popescu entered a guilty plea and that he “desisted from the attack”.

Mr Aubrey also told the court that Popescu suffers from “low mood and anxiety”.

“He has expressed his remorse and regret, which is genuine,” he added.

But, while mitigating, Mr Aubrey said he did not seek to “minimise the terror that the victim experienced at the time of the attack”.

Sentencing Popescu, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Popescu felt “very little true remorse”.

“In my judgement, the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors,” she added.

Popescu was forbidden from contacting Ms Pintili or any of her children and was also banned from entering Merthyr Tydfil.

Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip restored after an investigation into her conduct, Sky News understands.

The first black woman to be elected to parliament, Ms Abbott was suspended from the party last year after writing a letter in The Guardian suggesting Jewish people do not face racism, and that instead they suffer prejudice similar to “redheads”.

She apologised shortly after it was published, but had remained sitting as an independent MP for more than a year while the party’s national executive committee carried out its investigation.

Sky News now understands that she had the whip returned to her earlier today, paving the way for the veteran MP to run for Labour again in her Hackney North constituency, should she wish to stand in July’s election.

Follow live: General election latest

Ms Abbott has been a Labour MP since 1987 when she made history by becoming the first black woman to sit on the Commons’ benches.

A stalwart on the left of the party, she is a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary during his tenure.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Her initial suspension was welcomed last April by a range of MPs from across the House and by groups representing the Jewish community.

But as the length of the investigation into her conduct grew, questions were also raised about the motivations of the current leadership and whether she would be allowed back into the party’s ranks.

Speculation grew further after a report in The Guardian exposed remarks that had been made about her by one of the Conservatives’ largest donors Frank Hester, saying Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.

Many from the Labour movement called for her to have the whip reinstated at this time, but while party leader Sir Keir Starmer was seen offering her support in the chamber, he repeatedly said the investigation needed to be concluded.

Reports were swirling earlier on Tuesday that Ms Abbott might be ejected from the party entirely, along with claims the investigation had been wrapped up months ago.

And there were suggestions she could even join her friend and ally Mr Corbyn on the outside and run as an independent for the general election on 4 July.

But shortly before 7pm, Sky News discovered she had been reinstated.

Sir Keir was asked by reporters about her case when he was on the campaign trail in Hertfordshire this afternoon but gave little away, saying: “The process overall is obviously a little longer than the fact-finding exercise.

“But in the end, this is a matter that will have to be resolved by the National Executive Committee and they’ll do that in due course.”

However, Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said it was “inconceivable” Sir Keir wasn’t told the process had finished.

“No ifs, no buts,” said Mr Holden. “This isn’t another flip-flop or yet another policy U-turn. Sir Keir Starmer has blatantly lied to the British people and has serious questions to answer.”