Politics news – live: Sir Lindsay Hoyle voted new Commons Speaker as Farage unveils 600 Brexit Party candidates
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons, winning the fourth and final ballot with a commanding 325 votes to Chris Bryant's 213.
Parliament missed the chance to elect its second female Speaker in 600 years, as Dame Eleanor Laing and Harriet Harman, the longest-ever continuously serving female MP, left the race.
Party leaders congratulated Mr Hoyle on his appointment, with Mr Johnson appearing to make a not-so-subtle dig at outgoing Speaker John Bercow as he stressed the need for the position to be impartial.
Earlier in the day, Nigel Farage accused the Conservatives of “conceited arrogance” as he unveiled 600 Brexit Party candidates who could split the Leave vote and scupper Boris Johnson’s chances of electoral victory.
Farage claimed the election is “likely” to result in a hung parliament and his MPs would be kingmakers. The senior Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg has pleaded with Mr Farage to “retire from the field ... it would be a great shame if he carries on fighting”.
Labour were forced to deny reports of an “allotment plot” which saw Jeremy Corbyn and his allies agreed to make the opposition a Remain party – before the plan was foiled by Corbyn’s adviser Seumas Milne.
Jo Swinson’s office cordoned off as police called to assess package
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s office at Portcullis House was evacuated after she was sent a package containing a suspicious powder.
The Metropolitan Police has cordoned off the area, and after investigation deemed the package “non-suspicious”.
Lib Dems must be ‘careful’ over its bar charts, MP warns
The controversial bar charts deployed by Liberal Democrats in election campaign materials can be inaccurate, a senior MP has admitted.
Former maths teacher Layla Moran said the party needed to be “careful” about its use of graphs which appear to show Lib Dems to be the main challengers in a two-horse race with sitting Conservative or Labour MPs.
Our political editor has all the details.
Momentum urges activists to become "Labour Legends" by taking time off work to campaign
Grassroots network Momentum has urged Labour activists to give up work or their studies for a week to volunteer for the party in the run up to the election.
The group, which grew out of supporting Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership bid, announced it has raised more than £260,000 in a week from some 10,000 donors. It is more than the group raised during the entire election campaign.
Laura Parker, Momentum’s national co-ordinator, said: “The stakes couldn't be higher this election and we need activists to step up even further if we are to stop Boris Johnson selling off our future.
“We are calling on people to become Labour Legends by committing as much time as they can to make sure our movement is fighting as hard as it can everywhere in the country throughout the next six weeks.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a government which stands for real change.”
Sinn Fein to stand aside in three constituencies for pro-Remain parties
Sinn Fein has announced it will not stand in three Northern Ireland seats in order to block the DUP. The abstentionist party said it would stand aside in South Belfast, East Belfast and North Down.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald urged supporters to instead back the SDLP, the Alliance Party and independent unionist Lady Sylvia Hermon in those three seats.
She said: “In many ways this is a once-in-a-generation election, the stakes are very high in this election.
“People have a fundamental choice to make - to vote for a positive, inclusive future or to turn their backs on that and to back candidates who have been the architects of Brexit and who have acted very, very deliberately against the democratic wishes of people here in the north and more fundamentally against the economic and social interests of citizens who live here."
She added: “You can call this a pact, you can call it what you wish - the reality is we are asking people to come out and vote for those pro-Remain candidates. We believe that is the right and progressive thing to do.”
MPs to elect a new Speaker
Here are the candidates to be the next Speaker and their nominators. Interesting to see that Chris Bryant has won the backing of Michael Gove AND John McDonnell - an unlikely pairing.
Eleanor Laing and Rosie Winterton, who are both deputy speakers, have nominated eachother.
Labour MP says antisemitism in party has been ‘exposed raw’
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has been asked about some of the negative coverage in the Jewish press of Labour’s handling of antisemitism.
“It makes me incredibly sad,” he said. “Labour at the beginning, and still now, has to do more to combat antisemitism … we have a [antisemitism] problem in the country and in the Labour party that has been exposed raw.”
The Tory peer and commentator Danny Finkelstein has been on the same programme discussing the Conservative party’s problem with Islamophobia, suggesting it should be addressed in the manifesto.
“I think the party has got the chance to be a pioneer, because there a lot of Islamophobia in this country, possibly even more than there is antisemitism,” he said.
Plaid leader hopes to make announcement on electoral pact ‘soon’
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has said the party is having “positive discussions” about an alliance with the pro-Remain parties and hopes to make an announcement “very soon”.
At the party’s election launch in Menai Bridge, Anglesey, on Monday, Price said there had been discussions with the Lib Dems and the Greens about reaching agreements to boost the number of anti-Brexit MPs elected in the 12 December poll.
“We’ve had extensive discussions, very positive discussions, over many, many weeks and months … In principle, we’re very much supportive of the idea of trying to maximise the number of MPs from pro-Remain parties that are elected from Wales and indeed, of course, there are similar discussions between the Greens and the Liberal Democrats in England.”
The pact would see two of the three parties stand aside in certain seats to favour the one with the best chance of victory, replicating the success seen in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election.
Price added: “Obviously we have got to respect our members’ feelings and party democracy so that’s part of the reason why we continue to have those discussions but I think, in principle, putting the public interest, the national interest, before our narrow party interest really is the right thing to do.”
Price was joined by Westminster party leader Liz Saville Roberts and Ynys Mon candidate Aled ap Dafydd to speak to a packed room of supporters for the launch at the Victoria Hotel.
He said: “I think for all the noise and the clamour of the next few weeks, this is the election in which Wales will begin to find its voice as a nation.”
Plaid leader Adam Price in Anglesey (PA)
John McDonnell says he gets two death threats a week
Labour’s John McDonnell said he regularly receives two death threats a week, as he called for calm during the election campaign.
The shadow chancellor said politicians had “exploited” the Brexit result to “unleash forces” that were “dividing society”.
He made the comments after being told by a migrant NHS worker how he and a surgeon colleague had been verbally abused following the 2016 referendum decision.
Speaking to London NHS workers at the public services trade union Unison’s headquarters, McDonnell said: “We’ve all had continual death threats. I usually get about two a week now.
“That’s the sort of politics we have got at the minute. I think some politicians have exploited the issue around Brexit.”
Facing questions from health workers, McDonnell was asked how he would protect the NHS in any bilateral post-Brexit trade deals if Labour is elected to government.
He said any deals signed by Labour would ensure a “preference” for services to be carried out by the state in order to have “mutual benefit” for both sides.
“We will insert into our trade deals a preference for public service delivery in opposition to privatisation,” he said. “Boris Johnson promised an extra £350m for the NHS but he’s actually going to sit back and force the NHS to pay £500m in higher drug bills.”
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the party’s election manifesto would be revealed in the “coming days” and McDonnell said he would be releasing a “grey book” alongside the policy announcements declaring the costs involved, as the party did before the 2017 election.
John McDonnell with NHS staff at Unison HQ (AFP)
Ex-Labour MP John Woodcock won't be standing
The former Labour MP John Woodcock, who has been sitting as an independent since resigning from the party last year, has announced he won’t be standing in his constituency of Barrow and Furness. He and his partner Isabel Hardman, the Spectator journalist, are having a baby.
Big Ben’s bongs back for Remembrance Sunday test
The famous chimes of Big Ben will sound for the first time since the New Year as part of technical tests ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
Clock mechanics will test the bell on Monday evening and Thursday morning before it strikes to mark the start of the two-minute silence on November 10.
Big Ben’s bongs were temporarily silenced in 2017 for the safety of workers involved in a four-year restoration scheme of the Elizabeth Tower.
It is only being reactivated for special occasions until the work programme is completed.
The bell will be struck intermittently to test the mechanism between 6pm and 10pm on Monday evening, ahead of a dress rehearsal on Thursday at 11am for the Remembrance Day Ceremony.
Big Ben will be struck 11 times at 11am on Remembrance Sunday, with the mechanism programmed to strike the bell at the usual strike rate of the Great Clock.
Victoria Tower and Elizabeth Tower (AP)
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