Election campaign day 13: Farage spattered as he returns centre stage

Here are the key moments from day 13 of the campaign:

– Milkshake mayhem

Never far from controversy, Mr Farage’s return to the political centre stage has been marked with a baptism – by a sugary soft drink.

The newly reinstated Reform UK leader emerged from the Moon and Starfish pub in Clacton-on-Sea to be spattered with what appeared to be a McDonald’s banana milkshake thrown by a woman in the crowd.

The incident apparently did little to dampen the former MEP’s enthusiasm to be back on the campaign trail in the Essex seaside town where he launched his eighth attempt to enter Westminster.

In a newspaper interview earlier this year he appeared to suggest that he had little enthusiasm for life as a MP who has to return to his constituency at the end of each week.

But addressing a crowd moments before his soaking, Mr Farage declared: “I had to decide, do I want to stand as a Member of Parliament and spend every Friday working in Clacton? Huge decision for me – I’ve decided, I do. I’ll be here as many Fridays as I can, of course I will.”

For the Tories, Home Secretary James Cleverly suggested it was Mr Farage’s predecessor as Reform leader, Richard Tice, who had been left with egg on his face following his sudden demotion on Monday.

“Reform has always been a vehicle for Nigel Farage’s self-promotion, I think Richard Tice is now discovering that rather painfully,” Mr Cleverly said.

– Quote of the day–

– It’s not all about Nigel

Mr Farage’s return to the centre stage may have galvanised the election campaign but the Tories have insisted they will not be re-writing their policies to counter the threat from Reform.

Coincidentally – the campaign calendar having been planned some time in advance – the Conservatives have been out on Tuesday with their own message on migration: the hot button issue which Reform are hoping to make their own.

With Prime Minister Rishi Sunak locked in preparations for his first TV showdown with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, it was left to Mr Cleverly to set out the party’s plans for an annual cap on visas to bring down immigration numbers year on year.

Speaking during a visit to a haulier in Kent, the Home Secretary insisted that they were the only party with a “credible plan” for dealing with the issue.

“Conservative policies are created with the British people in mind. We focus on their needs, on the needs of the British economy and the British people, and our policies are not dictated by any party,” he said.

“No other party has got a credible plan for migration. Not Reform, not the Lib Dems, not Labour.”

– Picture of the day

– It’s good to talk – sometimes

Diane Abbott may now have been given the all-clear to stand again for Labour, but it is weeks since she and Sir Keir have actually spoken.

During a campaign visit to Bolton, the Labour leader told reporters: “I have spoken to Diane two or three months ago, my team have obviously been speaking to her, but that decision is taken, that’s clear.”

Sir Keir last week dropped his apparent opposition to the veteran left winger standing again as the party’s candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington after coming under pressure from his deputy Angela Rayner.

Ms Abbott, who was first elected in 1987, had been suspended from Labour after comments she made last year suggesting Irish, Jewish and Traveller people were not subjected to racism all their lives in the same way as black people.

Another member from the left of the party was not so fortunate: Faiza Shaheen who was previously the unsuccessful candidate for Chingford and Woodford, announced she was quitting Labour after being excluded from the list of approved candidates by the ruling National Executive Committee.

In a statement posted on social media, she said her treatment had been “cruel and devastating” and that she had faced a relentless campaign of “bullying and hostility”.

In contrast, Sir Keir was happy to welcome one of his party’s newest recruits to his campaign event – Mark Logan, who until last week was the Tory MP for Bolton North East.

– This time it’s personal, says Davey

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has emerged as the campaign trail’s undisputed king of the wacky photocall.

So far he has tumbled from a paddleboard (multiple times) and taken a ride on a waterslide in eye-catching attempts to draw attention to his party’s policies.

However, he has also taken time off from election events to look after his disabled son, so it was with some feeling Sir Ed set out the Lib Dems’ plan to offer free care for adults in need, including the elderly and the disabled.

“As a carer for my disabled son, and after caring for my ill mother when I was young, care is deeply personal for me,” he said.

“That is why I am putting fixing the care crisis at the heart of the Liberal Democrat offer to the country at this election.”

– Social media moment of the day

As Mr Farage launched Reform’s campaign in Clacton, a freelance political journalist dodged tree branches, leaves and twigs while sitting on the party’s open-top bus.

Alicia Fitzgerald, formerly of TalkTV, posted a video on social media of passengers ducking their heads every time the bus drove under low-hanging branches.

She wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Welcome to the Reform UK Battle Bus – Temple Run edition. We are being garrotted by trees, I’ve got twigs in my hair and there are pensioners on the floor.”

– What the polls are saying

Three nationwide opinion polls have been published in the last 24 hours, all continuing to show Labour well ahead of the Tories.

JL Partners put Labour 17 percentage points ahead, Redfield & Wilton gave Labour a lead of 26 percentage points, while Deltapoll gave them a 23 percentage point advantage.

An average of all polls that were carried out wholly or partly during the seven days to June 4 puts Labour on 45%, 21 points ahead of the Conservatives on 24%, followed by Reform on 12%, the Lib Dems on 9% and the Greens on 5%.

– What’s happening tomorrow

Campaigning in the election is expected to take a back seat as the nation begins two days of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings on D-Day.