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What to expect on the General Election campaign trail on Wednesday

Here is a guide to the main developments expected in the General Election campaign on Wednesday.

Claudia Savage
Wednesday 19 June 2024 02:00 EDT
The Conservative Party battle bus arrives at a farm in Devon (Ben Birchall/PA)
The Conservative Party battle bus arrives at a farm in Devon (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

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Here is your guide to the main developments expected in the General Election campaign on Wednesday:

– Cheaper energy, no shocks

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, and Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, will visit a supermarket as the party pledges to put family finances first by cutting household energy bills by £300 and protecting Britain from future energy shocks.

Ms Reeves will reiterate Labour’s pledge to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, which the party says will slash energy bills, boost the UK’s energy independence, and create 650,000 jobs.

– Your moral mission should you choose to accept it 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to continue fighting the campaign on taxes as he announced it is his “moral mission” to further slash national insurance.

Mr Sunak shocked even those in his own party when he chose to call the General Election after favourable inflation figures in April.

As the party continues to languish some 20 points behind Labour in the polls, he will be hoping positive figures for May will help to sell the Conservatives’ message that “the plan is working”.

– Poster girl 

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper will urge voters in Godalming and Ash not to let the Conservatives “bet the house again” on mortgage prices as she unveils a Lib Dem poster van.

Ms Cooper will address activists with the new attack poster in Surrey, where the Liberal Democrats say they “are neck and neck” with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

– Lonely on the left

SNP leader John Swinney will be in Edinburgh to launch the party’s manifesto, which he claims “will set out a different approach in line with Scotland’s centre-left values”.

Mr Swinney will be joined by SNP Westminster candidates and activists to unveil the party’s plans, which will call for the next UK government to generate an additional £1 billion a year for Scotland’s health service.

– Remember him?

The Workers Party of Great Britain, led by George Galloway, will launch its General Election manifesto, titled Britain Deserves Better, in Manchester.

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