The gigs, sports events and festivals that clash with the 4 July general election

Published

1 month ago

May 22, 2024

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Some sports fans and music lovers who want to vote are set to be double booked on polling day after Rishi Sunak called a general election on 4 July.

The prime minister announced in the pouring rain this afternoon that “now is the moment for Britain to choose its future“.

But those set to see The Killers at the O2 Arena or Megan Thee Stallion at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro who also want to vote may face a challenge to their plans.

Other gigs clashing with the general election include Morgan Wallen’s biggest-ever UK show at Hyde Park, and Paloma Faith’s stadium show at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff.

Comedian James Acaster – who backed Labour’s Rosie Wrighting to be elected MP in Kettering – is also performing at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on the same day as the election.

Usually, polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on polling day and require attendance in-person with an acceptable form of ID.

The Electoral Commission says they can get busy, however, particularly before most people start work or towards the end of the day, which might make it harder for people to attend events and vote on the same day.

But it is possible to vote by post, or by proxy, the commission says, if you have applied to do so within the deadline.

A number of other music festivals are either starting on Wednesday 3 July or Thursday 4th, and others are starting the day after, including BST at Hyde Park with Kings Of Leon, Kylie, Robbie Williams and Andrea Bocelli, among others.

Glastonbury attendees will be relieved however as election day comes the week after the four-day festival, held from the 26 to 30 June.

Just after hours after announcing the election, Sunak rolled out the Conservative’s vision for another five years at the ExCel centre in east London.

But the prime minister might pause campaigning in four days’ time to watch Southampton play Leeds in the Championship playoff final. He was spotted at St Mary’s Stadium to watch the Saints see off West Bromwich Albion on Friday.

What about the Euros?

Sticking with football, both England and Scotland will look to win Euro 2024 in Germany this summer, while Sunak and Keir Starmer campaign at home.

The Three Lions will play Serbia on 16 June, Denmark on 20 June and Slovenia on 25 June.

Meanwhile, Scotland will kick off the tournament against Germany on 14 June, before playing Switzerland on 19 June and Hungary on 23 June.

There’s also a chance either side could play the day after the general election: If England finish second in their group and win their round of 16 game, they will play on 5 July at the MHPArena in Stuttgart.

Scotland will play this day if they top their group and win the first knockout game.

If England finish first in their group, or if Scotland finish second, and either side win their round of 16 game, they will play on Saturday 6 July instead.

Any other clashes?

For some private schools, 4 July is the end of term, which could mean some intend to start their holidays on that day.

For those watching the tennis, Wimbledon will take place from 1 July to 14 July – often a full day trip for many who attend.

On the day of the election, the tournament will see the second round of the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles, as well as the first round of the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Doubles.

The Henley Royal Regatta will be in full swing on 4 July, having started two days before, while the British Grand Prix is due to get under way the day after on 5 July.

But those perhaps most likely to be annoyed by the election date will be in Scotland, with the six-week state school summer holiday starting from 28 June, with many jetting off as soon as the children break up.

Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, expressed his discontent on X just after Sunak spoke, saying: “A Scottish school summer holiday election is the final insult this Tory Government can impose on Scotland.”

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande’s UK chart record

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2 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande's UK chart record

Sabrina Carpenter has set a new UK chart record by becoming the youngest female artist to take the top two singles spots in the same week.

The US singer reached number one on the Official Charts Company rundown with Please Please Please, pushing Espresso, which had been at the top for five weeks, down to number two.

Please Please Please totalled 9.8 million combined streams, while Espresso came in second with 8.1 million streams.

At the age of 25 years, one month and 10 days, Carpenter overtakes Ariana Grande, the previous youngest holder of the record, by around six months.

Grande achieved the same two-spot hold in the same week when she was 25 years, seven months and 20 days old in February 2019 with 7 Rings at number one and Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored at number two.

Eminem is at number three this week with Houdini, while Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather is at number four, followed by Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy).

Taylor Swift doesn’t make the top five, but sets a new personal best in the albums chart with a seventh week at the top.

The Tortured Poets Department earns a seventh non-consecutive week at number one, surpassing 2022’s Midnights which spent five weeks at the summit.

Swift is in the UK for her Eras Tour, and will take to the stage in London’s Wembley Stadium on Friday evening.

At number two is US singer-songwriter Eilish’s latest record Hit Me Hard And Soft, while British singer Charli XCX’s Brat came in at number three.

In fourth spot is Canadian musician The Weeknd’s greatest hits collection The Highlights.

British rock group Sea Girls also celebrate a hat-trick of top five albums as their third studio collection Midnight Butterflies makes its debut at number five.

The group previously saw success with 2020’s Open Up Your Head and 2022 LP Homesick, which both reached number three.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift Tube map released as Wembley Stadium hosts London Eras Tour shows

Published

8 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Taylor Swift Tube map released as Wembley Stadium hosts London Eras Tour shows

London’s iconic Tube map has been redrawn to celebrate the arrival of Taylor Swift’s tour in the capital.

As the US megastar’s Eras Tour descends on the city, fans, or Swifties, will be able to navigate their way around using a redesigned London Underground layout, with each line named after a different album and drawn in sequin colours to match – with stations denoted by her songs.

Under the changes, the Central Line has been renamed Red after the singer’s fourth album while the Victoria Line becomes 1989, the Bakerloo Line Evermore and the Northern Line her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department.

The map also highlights a host of places across the capital that are referenced in her music.

Notable locations on the Taylor trail – some of which feature in her song London Boy, include the West End, Soho, Bond Street, Camden Market, Highgate, Hampstead Heath, Vauxhall, Shoreditch, Hackney, Brixton and Kentish Town.

Swift-fever even spread to Buckingham Palace earlier on Friday where Shake It Off was played at the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony.

The pop star has already played sell-out shows in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff and it is now the turn of fans at Wembley Stadium to get a sprinkling of stardust.

They have waited more than a year for the tour to arrive, after Swift kicked off her marathon string of dates in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023.

Since then, she has crossed the US, Asia and South America and made stops across Europe, sometimes accompanied by her boyfriend, the American football star Travis Kelce.

She will play three nights at Wembley Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before taking the tour to Dublin next week.

Swift will return to London for five more shows in August.

Her fans are expected to boost the London economy by £300m as the capital hosts more Eras Tour shows than any other city in the world, with nearly 640,000 people expected to attend across the eight dates.

Specially-designed murals have also been created to mark her arrival.

Wembley Park is hosting two new public artworks including one on the Spanish Steps, which are being temporarily renamed the Swiftie Steps.

The blockbuster tour takes fans on a journey through the different musical stages of her career.

Thousands of concert-goers have already arrived at Wembley eager to soak up the atmosphere of what promises to be a memorable performance.

Among those at the stadium were Lauren Robinson, 20, who had travelled from Cheshire, and her friend Grace Arnold, 24, who had travelled from the Wirral.

Ms Robinson said: “Coming to the capital has got to be the best place to see the tour.”

She added: “It’s like going to a party with all your best friends.”

Ms Arnold said she was most looking forward to the Folklore set (Swift’s eighth studio album), but said the potential surprise songs “actually make me feel sick to think about”.

Entertainment

Jane Fonda leads tributes to Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland

Published

17 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Jane Fonda leads tributes to Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland

Tributes have poured in for actor Donald Sutherland after he died following a long illness.

The 88-year-old was best known for his roles in Ordinary People, The Hunger Games franchise and M*A*S*H.

His son, Kiefer Sutherland, confirmed the news “with a heavy heart” as Oscar-winner Jane Fonda and other stars of the big screen led tributes to the Canadian actor.

“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away.

“I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film.

“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived,” the son said of his father.

Among Sutherland’s best-known roles was the detective John Klute, who attempted to protect Fonda’s character Bree Daniels from a killer stalking her.

US actress Fonda shared a black-and-white image of Sutherland from their 1971 hit where she won her Oscar for best actress, and said: “I am heartbroken,”.

The pair dated for a period in 1971 and staged a travelling anti-war roadshow for US soldiers.

Leading politicians like US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also paid tribute after the actor’s passing.

Mr Trudeau called him a “truly great Canadian artist”, after he learned of his death during a news conference relating to a national school food programme.

Mr Biden described Sutherland as a “one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades” in a post on X.

Dame Helen Mirren was among the British actors and actresses paying tribute.

She appeared alongside Sutherland in 2017’s The Leisure Seeker, following their 1990 drama Bethune: The Making Of A Hero.

“Donald Sutherland was one of the smartest actors I ever worked with,” Dame Helen said in a statement.

“He had a wonderful enquiring brain and a great knowledge on a wide variety of subjects.

“He combined this great intelligence with a deep sensitivity and with a seriousness about his profession as an actor.

“This all made him into the legend of film that he became.”

Most recently, many will know Sutherland from his role in The Hunger Games franchise where he played dictator President Coriolanus Snow.

The official account for The Hunger Games film called him “the kindest man in the world” who portrayed “the most corrupt, ruthless dictator we’ve ever seen”.

Throughout his career, Sutherland is perhaps best known as the womanising Captain Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce Junior, from the 1970 film version M*A*S*H.

His co-star Elliott Gould, who played the Captain ‘Trapper’ John Francis Xavier McIntyre, called Sutherland a “giant” who was “enormously kind and generous”.

Gould recalled they were both “young fathers” when they worked together and said his death “really profoundly hurts because Donald was like my brother, and a big part of my own career”.

Rob Lowe, known for his role in The West Wing and a number of other movies, said Sutherland was “one of our greatest actors” and that it had been an “honour” to star alongside him on the miniseries Salem’s Lot, in 2004.

“I will never forget his charisma and ability,” Lowe said.