A minister asked a meeting of Tory MPs whether it was still possible to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister after he announced the election, Sky News understands.

Sky's political editor Beth Rigby revealed in her Electoral Dysfunction podcast that health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom made the query at the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs yesterday.

Dame Andrea declined to comment when contacted by Sky News, saying "1922 Committee meetings are private".

Hours after Rishi Sunak announced there would be an election on 4 July, Beth Rigby reported there were considerable discussions on Conservative WhatsApp groups about whether there was still a route to stop a general election.

She told the podcast MPs are "really unhappy" with the timing of the vote, with some texting her saying it was "absolute madness".

One minister, she says, told her the letters were already going in again for a vote of no confidence in the PM, indicating the election was called "from a position of weakness".

Read more here:

We've just been hearing from our deputy political editor Sam Coates, who is in Inverness, where Rishi Sunak has arrived in the last hour.

Sam explained that Scotland is the third UK nation the PM is visiting today, and said: "Rishi Sunak knows he's the underdog.

"In fact, calling himself the underdog is pretty much a large part of his campaign, which is rather unusual for a prime minister.

"But then again, it is rather unusual for a prime minister to go to the country when he is 20 points behind in the polls."

He summarised the PM's pitch, which is saying the world is a dangerous place with uncertainty at home and abroad, and voters "cannot afford to change direction" and go for Labour.

What has stuck out to Sam throughout the campaign events today is "they are not gigantic rallies with hundreds and hundreds of people".

"They are quite tightly-controlled affairs with a few dozen, often invited individuals, who are called upon in some cases to talk to the PM - they make small talk, and then he moves on.

"The whole point of them is in order to generate pictures for the TV cameras."

Sam said he has been flying in a private jet "basically paid for by private donors" to get to these out-of-town places.

He also said the Tory party is "trying to manipulate the image" to make campaign events "look busy and warm" when, in reality, "they're hiring vast spaces with proportionally not that many people in them".

"They are hoping this makes him look active and real, and part of the community, understanding of people's concerns.

"But he's so far behind - the question is, will it work."

Labour sources tonight have rejected a Tory push for multiple election debates as they try to claw back their 20 point poll deficit.

Party sources have told Sky News they "won’t be tearing up the format established in previous elections just to suit this week’s whims of the Tory party".

Sir Keir Starmer will take part in two debates, the sources added, emphasising that their "priority" is to speak with voters and take questions from the media.

This evening, Rishi Sunak said the Labour leader doesn't want to debate him because "he doesn’t want to because he doesn’t have a plan and doesn’t have the courage to say what he wants to do".

Writing in The Telegraph, the PM made the case that the UK would be "less secure in every way" under Labour, arguing that while he offers "bold action, they do not".

On social media, party chair Richard Holden has tried to goad Labour into accepting the challenge, accusing Sir Keir of multiple U-turns.

And speaking to The Express, Mr Holden said it's "no surprises that spineless Sir Keir Starmer is now chickening out of debates".

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

Nigel Farage has said he will not be making a return to British politics after a general election was called.

The Reform UK honorary president and former UKIP leader said he had thought "long and hard" as to whether he should stand to become an MP in the 4 July general election announced on Wednesday, but said "it is not the right time".

Mr Farage said although the general election is important, the United States election in November "has huge global significance" so he has chosen to "help with the grassroots campaign" there as a "strong America...is vital for our peace and security".

He has helped Donald Trump's campaign since 2016.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice told Sky News Mr Farage will still help with their election campaign, which he is "absolutely thrilled" with, and said the Reform co-founder will be "very busy" during the campaign.

Moments later, Mr Farage retweeted a social media post saying he is quitting his GB News show during the campaign so he can canvass for Reform UK.

Read more here:

Rishi Sunak is challenging Sir Keir Starmer to multiple TV debates throughout the course of the general election campaign as the PM tries to make up a 20 point poll deficit.

The Telegraph is reporting that the Tories want a head-to-head debate between the two candidates for PM every week of the campaign - which would equal a record six debates.

On social media, Richard Holden has tried to goad Labour into accepting the challenge, accusing Sir Keir of multiple U-turns.

Meanwhile, Mr Sunak said the Labour leader doesn't want to debate him because "he doesn’t want to because he doesn’t have a plan and doesn’t have the courage to say what he wants to do".

Writing in The Telegraph, the PM made the case that the UK would be "less secure in every way" under Labour, arguing that he offers "bold action, they do not".

He repeated his pitch that he offers security in a dangerous world, a plan to tackle illegal migration, and low taxes.

Rishi Sunak was barely two minutes into his general election announcement yesterday when a song began blaring near No 10.

Younger or less politically astute viewers may have assumed the tune was part of the prime minister's efforts to inspire the nation, as he didn't miss a beat in his speech when the music came in.

Its purpose, however, was very different.

The song - Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream - was the official anthem of Sir Tony Blair's landslide victory for Labour in 1997.

The party adopted the track which had already had mainstream success in the year after its release in 1993. It re-entered the charts during Sir Tony's campaign, which featured the lead singer Peter Cunnah performing the song live at several rallies.

You can read more from Sky News below:

The latest edition of Electoral Dysfunction is in your podcast feeds now, and one of the main topics was the optics of Rishi Sunak's announcement of the general election date.

In case you missed it, he went out on to Downing Street in the pouring rain, and throughout his speech, the song Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream was blaring out - which was the official anthem of Sir Tony Blair's landslide victory for Labour in 1997 (more here).

Our political editor Beth Rigby explained that Mr Sunak did the announcement on the street because he "wanted to be traditional".

But former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson branded the launch "disastrous", saying: "The idea of tradition and all the rest of it, well, that's great and all.

"But you're the prime minister - you make the traditions here.

"How f****** incompetent do you have to be to launch a campaign that badly?

"And how much do you not protect your boss by allowing him to do it or encouraging him to do it?"

She added: "Wait for a break in the clouds, okay? Look, how hard is that?"

Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley said he wanted to avoid advertising that he is a centi-millionaire by having "a lackey holding an umbrella".

She added that he "wouldn't have lost a single vote" if someone had been holding an umbrella, or he'd delivered the speech inside.

"He will lose votes because of the way he launched it," she said.

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With the general election campaign officially under way, what better time to keep a close eye on the latest polling?

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker here.

We've got three key dates for your diary from the Electoral Commission should you need to register to vote in the general election.

18 June: This is the deadline to register, which you can do online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

19 June: This is the deadline to apply for a postal vote, should you not be around when polling stations open on 4 July.

26 June: This is the deadline to apply for a proxy vote, which allows someone to vote on your behalf, and also to apply for a Voter ID certificate should you not have another valid form of identification.

This is the first general election where ID is needed to vote - find out more about registration here:

In January 2023, Rishi Sunak made five promises.

Since then, he and his ministers have rarely missed an opportunity to list them. In case you haven't heard, he promised to:

• Halve inflation
• Grow the economy
• Reduce debt
• Cut NHS waiting lists and times
• Stop the boats

See below how he is doing on these goals: