General election 2024: What Sunak and Starmer need to pull off in the first TV general election debate
The Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer will tonight go head-to-head in the first TV debate during this year’s general election campaign.
On Sky News’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, party insiders give their views on what each leader needs to pull off under the bright lights of the studio.
Speaking to political editor Beth Rigby, Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika said Rishi Sunak has just “two jobs” to achieve tonight.
“He’s got to and try and really land a blow on Starmer,” said Baroness Hazarika, who also advised then Labour leader Ed Miliband during his 2015 election campaign against David Cameron.
“And given that he hasn’t really done that at PMQs, that is quite a high bar for him.”
Secondly the prime minister has to appeal to “those old Tory voters who are flirting with [the Reform party]” and send them a message: “come back home to the Conservative Party”, added Baroness Hazarika.
That’s all he needs to focus on because the PM is “not trying to win this election at this point” but reduce the loss of seats from 200 to more like 100 to 150, the Labour peer said.
Keir Starmer, on the other hand, has only “one job”, she said.
“He has got to come out, and he’s got to look like a prime minister.”
Not “trip over the stage or anything like that”, and just “look like somebody who could feasibly I could see at Downing Street. That’s his only job.”
She also called it “strategically the right decision” to appear only with Mr Sunak, because “why should he put himself up there with every other party leader when everybody will gang up on him?”
Be in the audience for our general election leaders event on 12 June in Grimsby
If you would like to be part of this live studio audience for our leaders’ debate, complete the short questionnaire in this link.
Meanwhile, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson said the debates are less about the “words that you say” and more about “what you convey”, ahead of ITV’s debate.
“It’s your presence. It’s how you speak. It’s who you appeal to. It’s the kind of wood for the trees thing.”
And whereas Mr Sunak has to defend the track record of five Tory prime ministers, including himself, “who all believe different things and have done different things” – all Sir Keir has to get across is “I’m going to do better than you because you’ve been rubbish”, added Ms Davidson.
The prime minister will be hoping to make an impact after the latest YouGov poll for Sky News.
The polling projection, known as an MRP, shows Labour could be on course to win a huge 194-seat majority – bigger than even Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997.
Meanwhile, the Tories are projected to get 140 seats, with 48 going to the Lib Dems, 17 to the SNP, and two to the Greens.
However, Sir Keir and his team will also be worried about complacency, and will be hoping to solidify their standing in front of the studio audience tonight.
Email Beth at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk, Tweet Beth @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.
As US conservatives rapidly shape the crypto landscape through policy, funding and grassroots adoption, progressives remain divided and hesitant. Progressives lack a unified strategy and risk losing relevance.
Following its latest freeze of nearly $86K in stolen USDt, Tether’s enforcement capabilities are again in the spotlight — raising questions about centralized control in stablecoin ecosystems.
Politics
£104bn of water industry investment will come from bill payers, environment secretary concedes
Steve Reed has conceded that the bulk of the £104bn of water industry investment which he boasts Labour has attracted since coming to office will come from bill payers.
In an interview with Sky News, the environment secretary sought to blame the previous Tory government for a string of high profile investors walking away from the sector over the last year.
Mr Reed does not accept claims that further threats to jail water bosses and promises to curb price rises have deterred investment.
Instead, he told Sky News that “by bringing in the £104bn of private sector investment that we secured at the end of last year, we can make sure that the investment is going in to support” the industry.
When challenged that the £104bn was total expenditure not total investment, and that bill payers would pay back this expenditure over the coming decades, Mr Reed conceded this was right – and the money ultimately is coming from bill payers.
“The money comes in from investors up front so we can do that spending straight away,” he said.
“Over decades, the investors got a modest return from the bills that customers are paying. That’s how investment works.”
Some investors have warned they do not think it viable to fund the UK water sector because of the hostile political tone of ministers and lack of certainty.
Ministers have said the government does not want to renationalise water as it would mean years of legal wrangling and cost a lot of money.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Minister rules out nationalising the water
Labour has launched a record 81 criminal investigations into water companies over sewage dumping since winning the election last year.
Water company bosses could be jailed for up to five years and the companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds if they are found guilty.
Mr Reed committed to not interfering with those prosecutions, saying it would be “highly inappropriate” for any minister to do so.
Read more:
Key recommendations from the water report
Labour to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in 10 years
He rejected suggestions ministers will be pressured to ensure water bosses do not serve jail time as this will deter investors.
“It’s a judicial process, it would be highly inappropriate for any ministerial interference in the process,” Mr Reed said.
“They will work their way through the court system, as they should do, and ministers will decide on sanctions after.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike