The list of mps jumping ship continued to grow. Among more than 100 other mps Standing Down, the former Prime Minister theresa may, the former leader of the house of Commons Andrea leadsom, and former defence secretary ben wallace. While the conservatives are now seeing more mps walk away than in 1997, labours losses are less substantial. Keir starmer took his campaign to glasgow, hoping scotland will pave his way to a win. After mps lined up to mark the close of Parliament Last night, the campaign is well and truly under way, with both potential Prime Ministers constructing their arguments to the country as they try to build up support to win. Hannah miller, bbc news. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent harry farley who is in the West Midlands now. With keir starmer, i imagine. What is he up to and what will be the focus . � ,. ,. , focus . Im in the Bellwether Seat of stafford, a seat focus . Im in the Bellwether Seat of stafford, a seat at focus . Im in the Bellwether Seat of stafford, a seat at the focus . Im in the Bellwether Seat of stafford, a seat at the labour focus . Im in the Bellwether Seat of stafford, a seat at the labour party| stafford, a seat at the labour party need to take back of the conservatives if they are going to win that majority in the General Election. We are expecting sir keir starmer to arrive in the next few minutes, we got labour activists here ready to speak to him and im told a few voters as well who voted conservative at the last election and are deciding to switch to labour, so a Campaign Visit for sir keir starmer here in what we call Bellwether Seat, that means the kind of area that usually votes in an mp from the party that goes on to win the General Election so a really key target for labour in this General Election. ~. ,. , election. What will be the focus for him, will it election. What will be the focus for him, will it be election. What will be the focus for him, will it be the election. What will be the focus for him, will it be the economy election. What will be the focus for him, will it be the Economy Today . You will be seeing that Rachel Reeves has been writing in the daily mail today, sending out a message saying, i wont play Fast And Loose with your money. Do you think he will be going along similar lines . Exactly, i think the economy is the focus for both parties. You mentioned that article from Rachel Reeves, making a pitch to their readers, promising that they will be responsible with the economy, that core message from the labour party about economic stability. We also heard from jeremy hunt in the telegraph today, talking about tax cuts, presumably to National Insurance, and also talking about Inheritance Tax, saying it is a profoundly conservative thing so the economy is the key battleground, i suppose for both parties Inheritance Tax is a profoundly unconservative thing. Both parties will face a choice, given the state of the economy, between imposing tough Spending Cuts for department such as the courts or prisons, or increasing taxes or borrowing, so thats the reality of whoever wins the election. We will have a chance to speak to keir starmer about that later. ~ , to speak to keir starmer about that later. � ,. , to speak to keir starmer about that later. ~ ,. , u, later. The afs have called the current financial later. The afs have called the current financial situation later. The afs have called the current financial situation a i later. The afs have called the L Current Financial Situation A Dark Cloud hanging over the election. I expect they will want to make a lot of how many tory mps are deciding not to stand at the election. We have seen not to stand at the election. Have seen now, more than a 1997 when tony blair won that landslide majority, more Conservative Mps have said that they are Standing Down at the election. There are all sorts of individual, personal reasons why different mps might choose to stand down but as you say, the number of those making that decision perhaps paints a picture of maybe, some might say, mps deciding to move on to do Something Else, jumping ship even. Labour mps are Standing Down but its more Conservative Mps who have chosen to leave. We had from michael gove last night, a prominent cabinet minister, supporter of rishi sunak, deciding that hes had enough and is going to step back from his seatin and is going to step back from his seat in surrey, he is honestly a key target for the liberal democrats. He made a point of Praising Rishi Sunak in his resignation letter, saying that he is exactly the kind of man and exemplified the best of the conservative party. We heard from dame andrea leadsom, another prominent figure who run for leadership of the conservative party in the past so a large number of mps, particularly conservative ones, choosing to call time on their career as an choosing to call time on their careeras an mp. Lets cross to the newsroom and speak to our Political Correspondent jack fenwick. Its a busy day of campaigning today, isnt it . Talk us through where the other leaders are and what their focus is. Where the other leaders are and what theirfocus is. We where the other leaders are and what their focus is where the other leaders are and what their focus is their focus is. We ust be hearing about keir their focus is. We just be hearing about Keir Starmers their focus is. We just be hearing about Keir Starmers movementsj their focus is. We just be hearing about Keir Starmers movements from harry and its fair to say that for rishi sunak, its a bit of a quieter day than hes had in the last few days, hes been sitting around all areas of the country. Weve probably had what we are going to hear from him today, he was doing some meetings with veterans up in the north of england who probably and we probably wont hear from the Prime Minister throughout the day but the Party Leaders are out in force. Ed davey for the lib dems isnt one of his partys target seats, we are waiting to hear from him shortly. We expect he is quite keen to talk about water quality, thatll be a real theme of the liberal Democrat Campaign right throughout the selection. In scotland for First Minister and snp leader, john sweeney is campaigning as part of a national day of action as part of a national day of action as the snp are calling it. In terms ofthe as the snp are calling it. In terms of the economy, as the snp are calling it. In terms of the economy, we as the snp are calling it. In terms of the economy, we were as the snp are calling it. In terms of the economy, we were talking l of the economy, we were talking about the labour side of things, focusing on telling people they dont need to worry about the economy, they wont play Fast And Loose with your money, Rachel Reeves saying she believes in keeping public spending under control. For the conservatives part, its about saying they want to bring in tax cuts so its a broad promise in a way but nothing too specific. Thats riaht, way but nothing too specific. Thats right. Weve way but nothing too specific. Thats right, weve heard way but nothing too specific. Thats right, weve heard from way but nothing too specific. Thats right, weve heard from jeremy way but nothing too specific. trust� s right, weve heard from jeremy hunt, he has done an interview with the Daily Telegraph this morning and he has been saying he wants to be able to bring in more of the sort of tax cuts we have seen from him in recent months, things like the National Insurance cut, he specifically said he wants to target tax cuts for workers and i think thats going to be a real theme of the conservative Election Campaign as we go on through the next few weeks. They are obvious ago to point to things like the inflation figures we saw the other day, although inflation has started to come down from being extremely high, and thats partly to do with what the Bank Of England have done but the conservatives are keen to say they have been working closely with them and i think that will crop up today and in following days. I will crop up today and in following da s. , ,. , days. I guess they will all be lookin days. I guess they will all be looking at days. I guess they will all be looking at the days. I guess they will all be looking at the weather days. I guess they will all be looking at the Weather Forecast, it seems very important that they dont have another situation where they are standing in the rain. I wonder how closely that will be monitored im sure the politicians and their advisers will also be looking at the Weather Forecast to see what the pictures of them might look like on the tv and in photographs in newspapers and websites rishi sunak, when he was meeting veterans this morning, was actually asked about that moment in Downing Street the other day when he announced the election, it was raining heavily, he was keen to make the point that come rain orshine, he was keen to make the point that come rain or shine, he wants to go on but clearly that is something that has stuck in voters mind is that he was meeting this morning. Meeting this morning. Thanks for now, meeting this morning. Thanks for now. Jack lets quickly show you some pictures, there is a sir keir starmer at that event in the West Midlands, arriving to make a speech as our correspondent was telling us. Hes going to be making a speech shortly and i believe we are going to be able to bring you some of that speech. I think hes on his way there. These pictures are quite shaky so they might not be the best but you can see him arriving at this event. I asked lizzy buchan, deputy Political Editor at the daily mirror and james hanson, times Radio Presenter and political commentator, what they thought of the latest election developments. Its become quite dramatic in the last two days. So weve been tracking the number of mps Standing Down for a while. There was a sort of steady drip of conservatives in the last six months, and theres lots of people whove been employed for a long time. Its been a very turbulent parliament. You can see that some people might want to go and do Something Else, but obviously the timing of the General Election was sprung on a lot of Conservative Mps and theres been this sudden influx of people deciding theyve had enough and they they dont want to fight the election. So its a bit destabilising for the Prime Minister, but i expect, you know, there are some people who think five years more, im not sure im not up for it. James, how Big A Loss Is Michael Gove to rishi sunak, do you think . I mean hes been there for such a long time and right at the front, hasnt he . He has. And a lot of people inside whitehall, even though hes a very divisive figure, would say that he has probably been the Standout Minister of the past 14 years of conservative led government because he does have a reputation for being a real reformer and being on top of his brief have been very good at delivering in government. But the fact hes Standing Down is a symbol of the fact that many leading conservatives simply dont think there is any chance theyre going to be back in office after the next election. So if youre michael gove, you are young enough to go off and do Something Else after this election. There have been all kinds of rumours about him returning to fleet street, for instance, so clearly hes decided that is preferable to sitting out his time on the backbenches in opposition. Well, should we talk about the economy, then . That seems to be the one that theyre going on principally. I see Rachel Reeves writing in the mail today, the shadow chancellor, saying i wont play Fast And Loose with your money. I suppose, lizzie, in terms of what labour are wanting to sort of get across is that they are the party to be trusted on the economy, arent they . Meanwhile, we have the conservatives promising tax cuts, although we dont have anything specific on that. What do you make of Rachel Reeves comments today . Labour will be very pleased to see those comments splashed on the front page of the daily mail. You know, theyve thrown everything at trying to show that labour is a party to be trusted on the economy. Theyve tried to capitalise on everything that happened during liz trusss premiership and theyve tried very hard to not make any unfunded spending commitments to repeatedly say that they can be trusted. So, you know, talking about sound money, thats the key message that theyre going to want to be landing with voters, that that labour arent scary, theyre not going to do anything that means youre worse off. And those voters in the mail on some of the kind of more right leaning papers are people that labour still needs to convince, to make sure that they can, you know, to ensure that they can win a majority at the next election. Yeah, and yes, go ahead, james. Do you want to come back in . No, i completely agree with lizzie, to be honest. You know, the big hurdle, the Big Fear For Labour is, is this going to be 1992 all over again when despite dissatisfaction with the conservative government, the tories were able to accuse labour of Planning Tax Hikes after the election. We remember those posters, labours Tax Bombshell and the fallout from john smiths shadow budget. Now, i think this election actually is going to be very, very different to 1992. But you speak to labour insiders, thats their big fear that you might have a repeat of that. So theyre being incredibly cautious, keir starmer and Rachel Reeves, to avoid any such a piece of that. So do you think, james, that we will see specific promises on tax cuts from the conservatives . I see this warning from the ifs, the think tank, the institute for fiscal studies, today, talking about how the current financial situation is a dark cloud hanging over the election and basically talking about how anybody is going to have to increase borrowing. And in terms of the tax cuts, it looks very like a challenging prospect. Do you think well hear specifics in the run up to the election from the conservatives on that front . Well, what were waiting for now, of course, is the manifesto launches, and there may well be in the tory manifesto a commitment to reduce taxes. For example, the Headline Rate of income tax will move the threshold by the end of the next parliament. But there is a risk for rishi sunak because one of the reasons many people say he chose to go for this july election as opposed to wait until the autumn, is that he actually thought there wouldnt be what they call the fiscal headroom. They wouldnt be able to afford to make tax cuts in the autumn, they wouldnt be able to do another mini budget. And that actually it might backfire because a bit like liz truss found out in 2022, you may get forecasters saying, actually, these are unaffordable, so there are risks here, but i think given where the conservatives are in the polls and given a very difficult first few days of campaigning for rishi sunak, it wouldnt surprise me if they do decide to gamble and put some kind of commitment for tax cuts over the course of the next parliament into the manifesto. Yeah, and how much is decided by voters in an Election Campaign, how much is what is said between now and and six weeks time actually listen . I know that they will be repeating their slogans over and over again in the hope of getting their messages across, but how much do you think in terms of if somebody is turning away from a party, the damage has already been done. Yeah. I think thats the real battle, particularly for the conservatives, is to try and get their voters to turn out, to hold on to people who backed them in 2019, particularly the people who had never voted conservative before, who sort of came in to where borisjohnsons kind of get brexit done message appealed to them and they moved over and it wasnt a natural space for them. Theres a huge amount of disillusionment. You can see it sort of anecdotall