Campaign Update: Day 26
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Happy Monday Morning.

- Liz Truss resumes the campaign trail today after presumably having to restrain herself at Wembley last night, not least because she watched football come home alongside her German counterpart
- This morning gets off to another strong start with an endorsement from Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
- It was speculated Zahawi could stay shtum throughout this election after being knocked out of the race. His endorsement says a lot about Liz’s presumed commanding lead
- Zahawi’s endorsement continues a day-after-day set of high-profile backings over the weekend, including Tom Tugendhat, Brandon Lewis and Dan Hannan
- It’s farming day for Liz, after Rishi’s made a big play for rural votes during the campaign
- Her new set of policies include pledging to remove EU regulations to supercharge productivity and enhance food security
- Promising to give British farmers the access to the workers they need in the short and long term
- New plans will create the agriculture industry of the future by backing technological advances
- These policies come alongside support from former NFU president Meurig Raymond CBE, who says “I share her vision of a competitive, profitable and sustainable farming sector underpinned by investment in the latest technology and innovation, and a proportionate and flexible approach to regulation.”
- Liz has slammed Rishi once again over a perceived tax policy u-turn, accusing his campaign of “flip flops and u turns”. See below for full details…

- While Liz was at Wembley watching the football, Team Rishi was busy working on a four-page policy document about women’s football that was sent to hacks the moment England won. Guido feels sorry for the authors if they think many took note of the pdf in the heat of victory…
- Rishi used the opportunity of the Lionesses’ win to commit to launching an immediate review of women’s football, as recommended in Tracey Crouch’s recent report
- He will work with home nation FAs to explore a UK bid to host a future World Cup
- He promises more sport for children, with guarantees for School Sport Premium and by ensuring Ofsted assess school sport
- The real substance of his campaign today, however, is another tax-cutting promise
- In an announcement published last night, today Rishi announces what he calls a “radical tax vision”
- This includes a commitment to cut the basic rate of Income Tax from 20p to 16p by the end of the next parliament (2028/29)
- Each penny off will cost the Treausry around £6 billion a year. His team say it’s fully costed, being paid for out of forecast economic growth
- He will use the next Spending Review to “drive greater efficiency and reform in order to deliver value for taxpayer money”
- Responding to this, Rishi’s No. 2 at the Treasury, Liz-backing Simon Clarke, says people facing the biggest cost of living crisis in decades “cannot afford to wait… Liz will cut taxes in seven weeks, not seven years.”
- Her campaign passively aggressively says “It’s welcome that Rishi has performed another u-turn on cutting tax, it’s only a shame he didn’t do this as Chancellor when he repeatedly raised taxes. Unfortunately it’s a case of ‘jam tomorrow’.”
- “The public and Conservative Party members can see through these flip flops and u turns.”
- Over the weekend his campaign eagerly pointed to polling of Tory councillors, which – while showing Liz a couple of points ahead – showed nearly a third undecided. His team say this is proof there’s still much more to play for than the media are suggesting.
- On Sunday he committed to £10 fees for no-show GP and hospital appointments, a policy Truss’s team say will impact the poorest in society hardest
Bookies Odds (Previous in Brackets):
- Liz Truss 1/14 (1/14)
- Rishi Sunak 6/1 (13/2)
