Election latest: Sunak defends Tory record as he's asked if it's 'time to get his P45' over 'catalogue of broken promises' (2024)

Sky's leaders event - TheBattle For Number 10 - has ended, and what an evening we've had.

Both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak had plenty of time to get their points across and covered a huge range of topics.

But did either man do enough to convince you to vote for them on 4 July?

If you didn't manage to catch either leader answer questions from political editor Beth Rugby or tonight'slive audience in Grimsby, read on to see the key points.

Sir Keir Starmer

• "It must be country first" - The Labour leader started the event by defending his history of U-turns, including on Jeremy Corbyn and a second EU referendum, saying he is putting the country ahead of his party, dragging Labour "back into the service of working people";

• Sir Keir was punchier on questions of tax than he was in last week's debate and got the first big round of applause from the live audience after attacking the Tories on this issue. He said: "the Tories are in no position to lecture anyone about tax rises";

• Beth Rigby got a big clap when she pointed out that just because Sir Keir ruled outa rise in VAT, national insurance and income tax, there are still other taxes he could raise such as fuel duty or council tax;

• Asked what he fears most about becoming PM, the Labour leader said he's worried about the impact it'll have on his family, including his children aged 16 and 13;

• We then moved to the audience questions and Sir Keir was firm when he said he's prepared to roll up his sleeves, "get in the room and settle this dispute" with doctors over pay;

• Another audience member asked the Labour leader on his plan to levy VAT on private school fees. Sir Keir said he has "nothing against"private schools but there are "too many" state school students not getting the best education possible;

• Sir Keir appeared slightly taken aback when told he seems "like a political robot" before saying he has had a "constant theme" in his life of trying to serve the public.

Rishi Sunak

• "It hasn't been an easy 18 months" - Things started on the defensive for the PM as he was asked what's gone so wrong for the Tories. Mr Sunak said he'll keep fighting until the last day of the election in response;

• He was then cornered over his early exit from the 80th D-Day anniversary events and he sounded contrite when he asked for forgiveness.The audience seemed in an unforgiving mood;

• "We need to have somewhere safe to remove them" - the PM was grilled on his Rwanda policy next but refused to put a number on how many people would be put on flights. There was a round of applause when he answered on stopping the boats, though;

• "You were Dishy Rishi!" - Beth Rigby finished her grilling of the PM by asking him to tell the audience one thing they might not know about him. He said he's not as healthy as he appears and has a real sweet tooth. Haribo and Twix are apparently his favourites;

• The first question from the audience was on housing and Sunak talks about buying a house costing £425,000. There were groans from the audience, many of whom agreed that a house that price is out of their reach;

• NHS worker Hamzah told Rishi Sunak he had seen “the chronic effect” of underfunding in the NHS. The PM replied by saying the government is "investing record amounts" and that the Conservatives are "recruiting and training more staff and nurses than we ever have";

• Mr Sunak was pushed on trust, with his D-Day gaffe and the COVID-19 parties in Downing Street both mentioned. Sunak said "trust takes time to rebuild", which didn't win him any applause;

• The PM said he is "incredibly excited" for his daughters to do national service in response to a question from William, a student from Grimsby. "I think it will be transformative for our country", he said.

We're getting the first reactions now in the spin room with Sophy Ridge, who has managed to get some time with Home Secretary James Cleverly and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.

Mr Cleverly says he was "genuinely shocked by Keir Starmer's first non-answer".

Beth Rigby had been questioning the Labour leader about whether he really believed it when he said previously that Jeremy Corbyn should be prime minister.

"He was being dishonest with the public, either then or now, we're not sure which," Mr Cleverly says.

Meanwhile, Mr Streeting's first reaction is that the audience showed people are "crying out for change".

Sophy then puts to the home secretary that Mr Sunak "looked slightly broken tonight".

Mr Cleverly replies: "He was willing to answer difficult questions, in stark contrast to Keir Starmer."

He says the Labour leader had given "incredibly long responses but no answers".

Sophy then says the hardest question for Sir Keir was an audience member saying "he was a bit like a robot, and he answered it a bit like a robot as well".

The shadow health secretary says that when the Labour leader spoke about his fears and his family, "that didn't come across as remotely robotic".

His answers to questions were "thoughtful", Mr Streeting says.

Almost two -thirds of voters think Sir Keir Starmer performed better than Rishi Sunak in Sky's leaders' event, according to a snap Sky News/YouGov poll.

It found that 36% of the 1,864 respondents said that Mr Sunak won.

But 64% gave the win to Sir Keir.

Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates says "that will hurt for the Conservatives".

He says the prime minister appeared at times to be an "almost defeated figure" and that there were several moments where the audience appeared to be "slightly mocking" and "laughing at him".

You can read more details from the poll here:

ByFaye Brown, political reporter

The heckling has died down now as Sunak comes under scrutiny from the audience.

He's taken to task over his D-day gaffe and association with partygate and there's nods from the audience as he apologises - in fact the question asker even says she appreciates that the PM owned up to his mistake.

She makes the point that it will take a long time for him to rebuild trust and it seems that those around her agree through the sound of clap.

In fact, there's been lots of clapping throughout the night on questions about the Conservatives' record.

But Sunak does land a warm round of applause when he says that a vote for Reform UK is a vote for Keir Starmer.

His arguments on tax and the NHS might not have gone down so well but that's one blow that appeared to land at least with some people.

Rishi Sunak is getting a hard time from the audience during exchanges on the NHS.

But then it gets worse.

A former Tory activist attacks him on D-Day and the Queen left on her own at Philip's funeral during partygate.

The PM looks as though he can't wait for this to end.

He'll be happier in the final election clash with Sir Keir, in a few weeks' time, when it's head to head rather than questions from an interviewer and a pesky audience.

He comes to life, though, when a member of the audience asks about Reform UK.

He launches into his usual claim about a vote for Reform UK letting in Labour, but at last he’s more animated.

As the programme comes to an end, James Cleverly arrives in the spin room. He looks pretty glum. This has been tough for Rishi Sunak.

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, on the other hand, has a big smile on his face. Says it all.

Rishi Sunak says he is "incredibly excited" for his daughters to do national service.

He was responding to a question from William, a student from Grimsby, who asks why a young person today would believe the Conservative Party has their best interests at heart given Mr Sunak's national service announcement.

"I have two young girls. I'm incredibly excited for them to do it because I think it'll be transformative for our country," the prime minister says.

"It willprovide skills and opportunities for young people that will set them up for the rest of their lives,foster a culture of service in our society, bring people closer together and contribute to our long-term resilience and security."

Mr Sunak says that everywhere he has been people have been "really positively talking to me about it", including parents who are "excited about what it will do for their kids".

Another audience member introjects to ask whether young people will be criminalised if they say no.

"Of course not," the prime minister replies.

ByJoely Santa Cruz, data journalist

Hamza, an NHS worker, wanted to know how Rishi Sunak plans to deal with underfunding and staff shortages in the NHS.

He says he has personally experienced waiting for eight hours on a stretcher in his local A&E department while in pain.

He's not alone - waits over 12 hours used to be a rare or almost non-existent event in English hospitals.

In April 2024, there were 42,000 instances.

Amy from Leeds is next to ask a question of Rishi Sunak - she says she was a "lifelong true blue" but is now an "undecided voter".

She goes on to say that some actions taken by the government make her feel "ashamed", including Mr Sunak's early departure from the D-Day commemoration in Normandy.

Amy asks how he will rebuild public trust in him.

The prime minister repeats that he made a "mistake" and did not meant to "cause any offence or hurt". He says he cares "deeply" about veterans.

Mr Sunak then says his manifesto contains a "very clear plan, a bold set of actions that will deliver a more secure future for you and everybody".

Sunak 'deeply regrets' lockdown parties

Amy comes back with a question about the Downing Street parties which took place while the country was under COVID restrictions, saying the public have "long memories".

Mr Sunak received a fixed penalty notice for one of them.

Mr Sunak says he "deeply regrets" what happened and says he knows "people will remember".

He says trust "takes time to rebuild through actions", notes his government took action to protect the NHS and people's jobs during COVID, and has "restored economic stability" over the past 18 months.

"That's how you earn trust, through your actions, making progress on things that matter to people."

The next question comes from audience member Christina from London, who says people in her community are concerned about policing - and in particular systemic racism and misogyny.

What will the Conservatives do to rebuild trust?

Rishi Sunak says racism and misogyny have "absolutely no place in our society, especially when it comes to the police".

His government instituted a report into the Met Police which the commissioner is now working on, he says.

The PM says he also wants to make sure communities are safe, so his party will put more police officers on the street, toughen up sentencing, and focus on violence against women and girls.

He will put 8,000 more officers on the street if elected, he says.

His party lost 11 police and crime commissioners at elections in May and Labour’s national vote share was higher in this poll, despite law and order typically being an area where Conservatives perform better.

But Sunak’s party fell from a very high starting point.

There are still Conservatives running police forces in 19 out of 37 areas with a police and crime commissioner in England and Wales, with Labour responsible for 17.

The Conservatives are much stronger in the South and Midlands than in the North, however.

Turning to the NHS, an audience member lists "chronic" staff shortages post-Brexit and a lack of pandemic preparedness among his concerns.

He challenges Rishi Sunak on his claim that due to having a family background in the NHS, he has an instilled value of caring for it.

He asks: "How are we going to do that if you try and undermine it at every level."

"With the greatest respect, that's not what we're doing," Mr Sunak replies.

"We're investing record sums into it. We're training more doctors and nurses than we ever have, and there are more doctors and nurses in the NHS today than it's also had," he says.