Election latest: Rishi Sunak 'pumped' and Sir Keir Starmer 'really looking forward' to Sky event - as set revealed (2024)

The banqueting hall in Grimsby Town Hall will take on a new guise this evening.

It's been transformed into the spin room for Sky's leaders' special event.

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates says the only feast there tonight will be "the journalists feasting on the content from The Battle for Number 10".

Sam says this is the place where the political parties, after the debate has finished, will "come and say their person has won".

He says they will also try to "hammer home key points about how their guy has done to the assembled media".

Sam says media from all over the place - broadcasters, newspapers and websites - have all descended on Grimsby.

They will be joining Sam, lead politics presenterSophy Ridge and the rest of the team from Sky News in trying give you the "clearest account of what mattered at this critical juncture in the election campaign".

From 7pm, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will answer questions from Sky's political editor Beth Rigby and audience members.

It will be broadcast live, with each leader facing 20 minutes of questions from Sky's award-winning political editor and 25 minutes of questions from audience members.

We will bring you all the latest from the spin room throughout the evening.

There was one policy noticeably absent from the Green Party manifesto today.

There were no proposals to reduce the number of "medical interventions in childbirth" as outlined in a policy document published on its website.

The document added that C-sections were expensive and, when not medically required, risky.

The Greens have been facing down a backlash over the policy idea, with campaigners pointing to a number of maternity scandals at NHS hospitals because of a focus on natural births.

Today the leadership rowed back on those policies.

Carla Denyer, the party’s co-leader, told Sky News: "I understand why women were surprised and concerned about that policy.

"Let me reassure them that that is a policy that was adopted some time ago. And I think probably people, especially professionals in the industry, will be aware that the thinking on medical intervention in childbirth has changed quite a lot over the last few years and decades.

"So let me be clear that that policy was never going ... isn't in our manifesto and was never going to be."

Zack Polanski, the party’s deputy leader reiterated her stance, saying: "It's never for politicians to tell people how they should be pregnant."

A Tory social media campaign suggests the party fears a Labour landslide in the upcoming general election, as minister Grant Shapps says they are fighting to avoid a Labour "supermajority".

The Conservatives' latest advertising campaign appears to target potential Reform voters, warning them that the Tories could be reduced to just 57 seats in the next parliament, even if Reform picked up no seats.

It urges them not to risk handing Labour the keys to Number 10 with a majority that may surpass even the 1997 landslide under Tony Blair.

Read more below:

As anticipation builds ahead of Sky's leaders' special event, we can take you behind the scenes of the venue in Grimsby Town Hall.

Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates says the set is looking "extraordinary" as the final preparations are put in place.

He says it conveys the "theatre and drama" of this event, which he says is taking place at a "critical juncture" in the campaign.

But in the end, he says, there will just be two chairs and small water table in the middle.

All focus will then be on the two leaders within the "expanse of this space" as they face Sky's political editor Beth Rigby and members of the audience in the battle for Number 10, Sam adds.

The Battle For Number 10 will be broadcast live from 7pm, with each leader facing 20 minutes of questions from Beth and 25 minutes of questions from audience members.

To take a look at a time-lapse capturing the construction of the set, check out our post at 3.49pm.

By Faye Brown, political reporter, in Grimsby

What does a Reform voter, a Labour voter, a Tory-turned-Labour voter and an undecided voter have in common?

A better woman could think of a good pun, but the punchlinesimply is that they all have views on the upcoming Sky News leaders' event in their home town and we're discussing them amicably outside Grimsby town hall… where Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will soon face questions from Beth Rigby and audience members.

None of this group will be part of the audience tonight, but they followed some closed roads signs and it led them here - "maybe to heckle" jokes Robert Cooper, 34.

The former Tory voter has lost faith in mainstream politicians and is giving his vote to Reform this year.

He says Mr Sunak and Sir Keir are "both useless" - whereas Reform is "on the side of the people".

The former Boris Johnson fan says he is concerned about deprivation is his town, problems with the NHS and the PM's failure to get flights off to Rwanda.

"Keir is a Conservative with a red tie," he adds.

Next to him Ibrahim Keser, 19, politely disagrees - he is backing Labour because he still believes they are "the people’s party".

Luke Deitch, 19, is also backing Labour - having joined the Tory party a few years ago.

He says "lots of towns and cities" in the north have been neglected and he trusts Sir Keir more than Mr Sunak to deliver for the country.

And the final straw? That was Rishi Sunak’s D-day gaffe.

"It was just do disrespectful and it says a lot about his judgment," Luke says.

Now that's something that gets a nod of agreement from all of them..

Including Brendon Jennings, 17, whose dad is a veteran and has dreams of joining the RAF himself.

He's undecided and wants to see what the leaders say tonight on their offer to young people and investment into small towns.

So all in all pretty amicable despite their differing political views.

Rishi and Keir - take note!

Sky has unveiled the stage where Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will be grilled this evening by Sky's political editor Beth Rigby and members of the audience.

This time-lapse captures the construction of the set in Grimsby Town Hall.

Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates says the "magnificent" stage was built over a period of "days and days".

The Battle For Number 10 will be broadcast live, with each leader facing 20 minutes of questions from Beth and 25 minutes of questions from audience members.

As we count down to the Sky News special leaders' event in Grimsby, here is a first glimpse of the set.

In just a matter of hours, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will be on this very stage in Grimsby Town Hall.

They will be answering questions from Sky's award-winning political editor Beth Rigby and audience members.

Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates says it's looking "magnificent".

He says the "extraordinary" set has been built over "days and days".

"You are not going to want to miss this," he adds.

The Battle For Number 10 will be broadcast live, with each leader facing 20 minutes of questions from Beth and 25 minutes of questions from audience members.

The SNP intends to focus its election campaign on highlighting Brexit "damage" and "prolonged austerity" under the Conservative government, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney has told Sky News.

He argued those "real issues" would be "sustained" should Labour win the election, with Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak "avoiding them".

The SNP leader has been out and about speaking to voters today about his"cast iron guarantee" that only his party will "protect Scotland's values" after "14 years of cuts" from Westminster.

Our Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies asked him what he would like to hear from Mr Sunak and Sir Keir at the Sky News leaders' special event in Grimsby this evening.

He claimed the SNP "should be there" as the third-largest party in Westminster.

"We should be represented on that panel, in that discussion, because we've got lots to say in this election," he said.

The Sky News programme, starting at 7pm, is the second live TV grilling of the two rivals for 10 Downing Street - Mr Sunak and Sir Keir - during this election campaign, following a one-hour debate on ITV.

They will face 20 minutes of question Sky's award-winning political editor Beth Rigby and 25 minutes of questions from audience members.

The Green Partyis not going to form the next government, but it does have big ambitions.

Explaining his goals for this election, co-leader Adrian Ramsay said he plans for the party to be in parliament "in greater numbers" to "push Labour to stop backtracking" and "be braver".

As the local elections proved, the party has now become a refuge for disaffected voters on both sides.

Left-wing voters are drawn to positions like a Middle East ceasefire and bold climate targets, while those in the Tory shires like the focus on nature and frustration at local developments.

With their manifesto today, the party attempted to straddle these different positions.

Along with calls for a ban on the sale of arms to Israel, a plan to build 150,000 new social homes a year, and a £40bn a year green transition plan came promises on new cycleways, footpaths, bus services, and ending the sewage scandal.

The question of funding is where things get fuzzy - there are huge multibillion-pound commitments, and the Institute of Fiscal Studies reckons taxes could rise by £170bn a year.

The Greens want those with the broadest shoulders to pay, but its policies would increase national insurance on anyone earning over £50,000 a year - that's one in five taxpayers.

Still, the Greens had just one MP before this election campaign and are targeting four after 4 July.

Polling at around 7% suggests they could get two - Caroline Lucas' old Brighton Pavilion seat and Bristol Central, home to Labour frontbencher Thangam Debbonaire

They may not be in government to implement their policies, but the Greens could be on course for their best ever election result and both the major parties are watching closely.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have arrived in Grimsby ahead of this evening's Sky News leaders' event.

A little earlier, the pair individually visited the set of the Battle For Number 10programme, airing live across Sky News from 7pm.

They were greeted by the Sky News managing director and executive editor, Jonathan Levy.

We will reveal the set in the next couple of hours as well, so stay tuned to the Politics Hub - and to Sky News for build-up throughout the day.