UK general election: Stephen Bush answers readers’ questions

We are just over a week away from the election, and Rishi Sunak’s error-strewn campaign has done nothing to steer his party away from the abyss. The morale among the Tory rank-and-file continues to deteriorate, while the slow-burning betting scandal further weighs on the party’s prospects. Each day of the battle reveals something new about shifts in power across British politics.

Today, Stephen Bush, associate editor and writer of the award-winning Inside Politics newsletter, answers FT readers’ questions about the state of play and what to expect from the looming contest.

Over on Reddit, you can put your questions to Stephen between 1pm and 2pm BST, whether about the challenges facing the next government, a future Tory leadership race, or broader factors that are shaping the election, such as the role of the media. Join the Q&A here.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have seen their voters shift allegiances since January, according to an FT-commissioned poll, and in the coming days Sir Keir Starmer’s party will be taken to task on how exactly it will keep its promises on tax and spend.

Conversations with FT readers are a great source of insight and often feed into Stephen’s Inside Politics newsletter. It’s a short guide to the politics stories that matter, packed with anecdotes and insight from his years reporting at Westminster, peppered with charts as well as cultural and music recommendations (which you can follow via his Spotify playlist here). 

It’s free for subscribers to sign up (click here), and if you’re not an FT subscriber, you can get it separately for £4.99 a month. The first 30 days are free. Register here.