Election latest: Another Tory under investigation over election bets - as Labour to return £100,000 in donations (2024)

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.

There are seemingly three things on the minds of British people at the moment - the Euros, the election, and Taylor Swift.

But while the Royal Family have been quick to send their backing to England's footballers and catch the pop star's Eras shows at Wembley, they'll be keeping their distance from the politics.

That's despite the fact that, apart from the monarch, the royals are technically allowed to vote in UK general elections.

Sky News explains why they don't.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, was also asked about a manifesto commitment to make it a criminal offence for elected politicians to knowingly mislead the public.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson was suspended from parliament for misleading the Commons - does Mr Iorwerth think he should go to prison?

He says legislation to "make it clear there are consequences if you are found to be purposefully deceptive" could be "part of the world of building trust in politicians and politics".

It's noted how difficult it would be to prove someone had purposefully deceived parliament.

Building that trust is a key focus for his party, he says.

"We believe this is important because one of the questions that I've been asked a lot during the course of this election campaign and MPs over the past year, is how do we build trust in politicians?"

That brings our coverage of tonight's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge to an end, but the show returns tomorrow at 7pm. Stick with us for more news and analysis throughout the evening.

Sophy Ridgeasks about a report into Plaid Cymru, published before Rhun ap Iorwerth became leader, which found "a culture of harassment, bullying, and misogyny".

Has he cleaned up the party's act?

"It was a difficult time for us," Mr Iorwerth admits. "We commissioned this report on ourselves.

"And, you know, there's a suggestion that other political parties may well benefit from doing the same themselves.

"But this was our moment."

Mr Iorwerth adds that Plaid Cymru has been "through a wake-up" and have "ticked off" all 82 recommendations the report made.

Russell George, a Conservative member of the Senedd, has stepped back from the Welsh shadow cabinet as he faces an investigation by the gambling watchdog over alleged bets on the timing of the general election.

Mr George represents Montgomeryshire in the Welsh parliament - the same area that Craig Williams, the Tory candidate who has had party support withdrawn as he faces similar allegations, represented at Westminster.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Russell George has informed me that he has received a letter from the Gambling Commission regarding bets on the timing of the general election.

"Russell George has stepped back from the Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet while these investigations are ongoing.

"All other members of the Welsh Conservative Group have confirmed that they have not placed any bets.

"I will not issue further comment on this ongoing process, recognising the Gambling Commission's instruction for confidentiality to protect the integrity of the process."

JoiningSophy Ridgetonight for the latest in her Leaders Interviews series is Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru.

She begins with her usual first question: Why should people vote for Plaid Cymru?

Mr Iorwerth says the reason to vote for his pro-independence party is "clearer than usual".

He adds: "We really need to make sure that the MPs we have really do speak up for Wales, which are guaranteed in Plaid Cymru.

"But also we kind of know where this is going to end don't we? In terms of Downing Street.

"Sir Keir Starmer will be the prime minister two weeks from now. We need to be holding him and his government to account for the people of Wales."

But Sophy points out that much of Plaid Cymru's manifesto is similar to that of Scottish Labour.

Mr Iorwerth disagrees, pointing to his party's desire to scrap the two-child benefit cap and reassess the country's relationship with the EU.

"We want to make sure that there's investment in Wales through the £4bn owed to us from the HS2 rail project in England, which Labour is flatly ignoring," he adds.

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.

Returning to the gambling scandal, former Tory MP Tim Loughton tellsSophy Ridgeanyone involved "should have the book thrown at them, frankly just for them being pretty dumb".

"It just looks really, really stupid," he says.

He explains that suspending anyone is effectively a death sentence for potentially innocent candidates standing in elections, and that Rishi Sunak waiting for an investigation before doing so wasn't a bad idea.

"It was right to look at it properly," he adds - but reiterates that it doesn't look good for anyone involved.

Tory peer Baroness Nicky Morgan is asked bySophy Ridgeif the campaigning is all but pointless - with the only Conservative aim to avoid Labour winning a so-called "supermajority".

"In my book, you never give up until 10pm on polling night," she says, noting occasions where final votes on election night have made the difference.

"I don't think the British public would want a government to have a huge majority," she adds.

"I don't think it's good for democracy, for holding a government to account."

She concedes that after 14 years it "was always going to be a battle" to convince the public for a further five.

On the recent gambling scandal, she says: "The more you're talking about things like betting, the less you're talking about the issues that people really want to hear about."

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass in the grounds of the prime minister's home, police have confirmed.

The incident took place at Rishi Sunak's constituency address in Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, while he was attending events linked to the Japanese state visit in London.

A statement from the local force said officers were "with the four men within one minute of them entering the grounds".

The arrests are connected to a protest by the Youth Demand campaign group, which has staged a number of actions against both the Conservative government's performance and Labour's proposed policies.

A spokesperson for the group said three of those arrested were taking part in the demonstration, while a fourth was an independent photographer.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "We have arrested four people in the grounds of the prime minister's constituency home this afternoon.

"Our officers were with the four men within one minute of them entering the grounds.

"They were detained at around 12.40pm before being escorted off the property and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

"The men aged 52 from London, 43 from Bolton, 21 from Manchester, and 20 from Chichester, remain in police custody for questioning and enquiries are ongoing."