In Pictures: Acting and Japanese royalty centre stage alongside party leaders

The election campaign trail with nine days to go before the July 4 poll.

Actor Idris Elba and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer met families of knife crime victims at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was joined by actor Idris Elba on Tuesday when he spoke to families of knife crime victims.

Sir Keir has pledged to ban the online sale of zombie knives “straight away” if he becomes prime minister.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took a step back from the election campaign trail on Tuesday to join the ceremonial welcome for Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako at the start of their state visit to the UK.

Elsewhere, voters in Wiltshire were given the chance of voting for a more unusual candidate when a senior druid threw his hat in the ring, and in Scotland the SNP put green energy in the spotlight.