Oliver Dowden reportedly reveals preferred choice for next Tory leader – UK general election as it happened

MeanwhileRishi Sunakis expected to tell voters today that “If just 130,000 people switch their vote and lend us their support, we can deny Starmer that supermajority,” PA reports.

Keir Starmerhas said a big majority would be “better for the country”, as the Tories continue to urge voters to proceed with caution and not hand Labour a “blank cheque”.

In an interview with The Times, Starmer said he needed a “strong mandate” to reform the planning system and improve the economy.

Asked if he was saying the bigger a majority, the better, he told the newspaper: “Better for the country. Because it means we can roll up our sleeves and get on with the change we need.”

Here is more detail on candidates’ movements today:

• Tory leader and Prime MinisterRishi Sunakwill visit businesses at 7.50am and 9.35am in Oxfordshire, with a Q&A with staff at 10.05am. He will appear on BBC Breakfast at 8.30am. There will be an agricultural visit in Oxfordshire at 12.55pm. He will return to London to speak at a Conservative campaign event at 10pm.

• Labour leaderKeir Starmerwill campaign in Nottinghamshire at 10.30am, Derbyshire at 1pm and Staffordshire at 3.20pm.

• Liberal Democrat leaderEd Daveywill campaign in the South West of England.

• Scottish Labour leaderAnas Sarwarwill join the party’s candidate for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West Martin McCluskey at 10am.

• SNP leader and First MinisterJohn Swinneywill join SNP candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.

Recriminations have begun to fly around theConservativesas a senior figure called the last few weeks the “worst campaign in my lifetime” and criticised the party for failing to tackle the threat from Reform.

The Guardian’sRowena MasonandKiran Staceyspoke t a number of senior Tory figures for this story, and found that candidates, advisers and officials are deeply frustrated with how Sunak has run the campaign after calling a July election against the advice of his key strategist Isaac Levido.

One senior Tory party figure said on Monday it had been the “worst campaign in my lifetime”, saying that while Sunak was wholly to blame for the early election, there was a feeling that Levido could have pushed back more against the July date and that Conservative HQ should have “taken the fight to Reform” earlier.

They said Levido had made it clear from the start that 2019 Tory switchers fromLabourwere “gone and never coming back”, telling candidates that all their efforts should be made to target potential Reform voters instead:

Rishi Sunak has started today with an early visit to an Ocado packing plant in Bedfordshire.

The Prime Minister witnessed hundreds of washing machine-sized robots topped with blinking green lights scuttling along a grid of rails, picking up and sorting boxes of food items from above, PA reports.

As he toured the warehouse, he also met with members of staff in their canteen for an early morning cup of tea.

He seemed to find this avocado quite amazing:

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Given Britain’s stagnant economy, dilapidated public services and near-bankrupt local authorities, there isn’t much public concern left over for its universities. But 14 years of Tory rule have damaged them just as grievously as the rest of the public realm, and in some ways more recklessly.

William Davies reports:

As many academics have warned, the funding system of higher education is heading towards disaster. One reason why this story has struggled to gain traction is that, as with so many areas of Britain’s highly unequal society, the elite end of the spectrum continues to thrive: according to the recentQS world university rankings,four of the world’s top 10 universities are in Britain.

But the news from the rest of the sector is increasingly grim. Revenue has struggled to keep up with spiralling costs, even while academic salaries have been falling in real terms. A sense of emergency took hold last autumn, when it became clear that there had been asharp drop in international students,whose higher fees have become pivotal to the funding model of higher education in the UK. Cue panic, as universities scrambled to bring in whatever students they could, slashing entry tariffs for postgraduates and even poaching them from one another, sometimes midterm.

Then there is the debt. The average undergraduate now leaves university owing £45,000, with a commercial rate of interest accruing. For postgraduates, you can add another £24,000 on top. The government’s repayment scheme raises a graduate’s marginal rate of income tax by a further 9%, resulting in the highest marginal tax rates for any workers in Britain.

In an economy as regionally unequal as the UK’s, higher education is one of the few countervailing forces, spreading revenue and jobs to parts of the country that otherwise have little to fall back on. Despite whatever schadenfreude might be enjoyed byDaily Telegraph columnistsand Tory backbenchers, a financial crisis in this sector does not only impact on lecturers:

And here is just a bit more of Ed Davey’s Zumba class to start your morning:

Is the glass more than half empty or less than half full?Rishi Sunakvisited the Cotswolds Distillery in Whichford, central England on Monday.

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10/10 walking in a relaxed and confident way – one hand in pocket – while chatting to strangers for Sunak:

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See: Not boring at all! Fun! Loves a laugh!

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Today’s winner of the Dogs-are-so-Lucky-to-Have-No-Idea-What-is-Happening Award goes to:

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As we contemplateLiberal Democratsleader Ed Davey’s campaign of antics this election, tidying up expert Marie Kondo would have us ask one simple question: Does it spark joy?

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It does:

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2 Jul 202405.53 BST

Rees-Mogg tells young Tories he wants to ‘build a wall in the English Channel’

Jessica Elgot

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he wants to “build a wall in the English Channel” in a leaked recording, in which he heaped praise on Donald Trump and the hardline Republican response to immigration.

Speaking to young Conservative activists, Rees-Mogg doubled down on his backing for the former US president, saying he took the right approach bybuilding a border wall.

“If I were American I’d want the border closed, I’d be all in favour of building a wall. I’d want to build a wall in the middle of the English Channel,” the former cabinet minister said.

Rees-Mogg is fighting a strong Labour challenge in his North EastSomersetand Hanham constituency against Dan Norris, the mayor of the West of England, who was previously MP in the seat until he was defeated by Rees-Mogg in 2010.

Rees-Mogg, a popular figure among Tory party members, is likely to be influential in the Conservative leadership race if he retains his seat. Support for Trump’s White House bid is a sharp divider within the party between the right and the centrist One Nation group.

Speaking before a pub crawl in March organised by a Young Conservative group, Rees-Mogg said: “Every so often, I slightly peek over the parapet, like that image from the second world war of the man looking over the wall, and say if I were an American, I would vote forDonald Trumpand it’s always the most unpopular thing I ever say in British politics, but I’m afraid it’s true. I would definitely vote for Donald Trump against Joe Biden.”

Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the – almost 48 hours until! –the UK general election on Thursday with me,Helen Sullivan.

As Labour and the Conservatives drive home their messages, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has told young Tories that if he were American,he would vote for Trump in the US elections.He praised the former US president’s border wall, saying “If I were American I’d want the border closed, I’d be all in favour of building a wall. I’d want to build a wall in the middle of the English Channel”.

Rees-Mogg is fighting a strongLabourchallenge in his constituency of North East Somerset and Hanham against Dan Norris, the mayor of the West of England, who was previously MP in the seat. Rees-Mogg defeated Norris in 2010.

More shortly on that story from the Guardian’sJessica Elgot.In the meantime, here is some of what we can expect today:

The Scottish Conservatives’Meghan Gallacherwill be on the campaign trail in the seat of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, which is expected to be a straight fight between the ScottishConservativesand the SNP.

10:00 Scottish Labour leaderAnas Sarwaris in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West with candidateMartin McCluskey.

10:30 Scottish Liberal Democrat leaderAlex Cole-Hamiltonvisits a falconry in Fife.

14:00 SNP Leader and First MinisterJohn Swinneywill join SNP candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey Graham Leadbitter on the campaign trail on Tuesday in Aviemore.