The Prime Minister has gone viral on TikTok for being cornered by a student, while Sir Keir Starmer fought discontent over candidate selection.
As the General Election enters its second weekend, Rishi Sunak has gone viral on TikTok for being cornered by a student, while Sir Keir Starmer fought discontent over candidate selection.
The Prime Minister was confronted by a 16-year-old singer-songwriter at The Drewe Arms in west Devon who asked him why he “hates young people so much”.
Student Henry Hassell, who lives in Drewsteignton, told the PA news agency that Mr Sunak “started scuttling out the pub” and tried to “escape the question” when he quizzed him on national service.
Henry said it has been “crazy” to see the video “blowing up”, with close to 100,000 views on TikTok.
Elsewhere, the Tories will seek to paint a positive picture of their record on levelling-up, after announcing a pledge to give 30 towns £20 million, which Labour have described as a “reckless, unfunded” commitment.
As part of the scheme the Tories pledge that local people, not those in Westminster, will decide how the money will be spent.
Some of the towns proposed to be added include: Tamworth, Preston, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Corby, Halifax, Bognor Regis, Newtown, Flint, Perth and Newry.
Mr Sunak said: “We the Conservatives have a plan for towns because we know they are the beating heart of our country.
“This bold action will transform 30 more towns – reviving their high streets, growing their local economies and making people feel proud of the place they call home.”
In the Labour Party, two of the most high-profile targets of what had been called party leader Sir Keir’s “purge” of left-wing members – Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen – saw diverging fates.
Ms Shaheen told supporters at a rally on Friday evening: “I must be honest – after the way I’ve been treated, I don’t think there’s any way back for me into the Labour Party.”
The academic also hinted at an independent run in the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency where she was denied the opportunity to be a Labour candidate, saying: “I’m going to make some decisions with the team over the next few days and I may ask you to do something really big for all of us.”
Meanwhile, Ms Abbott was finally given the green light from Sir Keir as he said she was “free” to put herself forward to stand for the party in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) is expected to ratify the decision when it meets on Tuesday.
In an extensive interview, Sir Keir told the Times: “I think you win from the centre ground, the centre ground is where most people are.
“As a nation, broadly speaking we’re a pretty reasonable, tolerant bunch, but we are in the centre ground of politics. People don’t like the extremes of the right or the left.
“They are reasonably tolerant. They want themselves, their families and the country to improve and make progress.”
The anger at candidate choices was not confined to one region as former Welsh Labour MP Beth Winter called candidate announcements there an “insult to Wales”.
Think tank chief and former Labour aide Torsten Bell has been selected as Welsh Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Swansea West, while executive director of legal affairs for the Labour Party, Alex Barros-Curtis, was selected for Cardiff West.
