UK General Election - Update

Sunak and Starmer clash over tax in first debate

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have faced off in the first TV debate of the general election, with heated exchanges over tax, the NHS and immigration.

The Conservative and Labour leaders got scrappy at times, forcing the host of the ITV event to intervene and urge the pair to "lower your voices".

Mr Sunak said Labour wanted to increase tax by £2,000 - a claim Mr Starmer dismissed as "absolute garbage".

And both leaders used the opportunity to set out their personal stories to voters, talking about how their childhood experiences had shaped their political views.

For many analysts, Mr Sunak needed a big performance after a rocky week which had seen abysmal polling for his party and the return of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to frontline politics.

A snap poll taken after the debate has revealed that the public think the Prime Minister performed the better of the two.

Data from YouGov shows 51% think Mr Sunak outperformed Sir Keir, compared to 49% in favour of the Labour leader.

However, digging further into the data suggests that neither did much to ease concerns of many voters.

"Frustrating" was how nearly two-thirds (62%) of people felt about the debate, while almost a third (32%) found it vague and 15% found it confusing.

Less than half (42%) thought the debate was interesting, while only 1 in 25 (4%) thought it was authentic.

Throughout the hour-long head-to-head, the Prime Minister accused Labour of wanting to raise taxes by £2,000, though this claim was refuted by Mr Starmer.

Mr Sunak remained the attack throughout, challenging Labour's promises, while Sir Keir brought up the record of the Tory party - in government for 14 years - as well as the infamous 49-day premiership of Liz Truss.

Policy Roundup

The Chamber has compiled a summary of the policies which are known so far, which have been trailed before the election was announced and shared since it was announced.

You access this summary by clicking HERE