Watch live as Keir Starmer kicks off Labour general election campaign in Kent

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Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer kicks off Labour’s general election campaign in Kent on Thursday (23 May).

Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir started their election campaigns on Thursday, six weeks before the country goes to the polls.

The prime minister is touring broadcast studios before embarking on a two-day whistlestop trip taking in all four nations of the UK.

The Labour leader has headed to south-east England in a sign he wants to make inroads in Tory areas.

In London, Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice is staging a press conference setting out his party’s plans.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to visit a target seat as he launches a campaign expected to focus on targeting Conservative-held seats following a series of eye-catching by-election successes.

Mr Sunak fired the starting gun for the election in a damp Downing Street, surprising many in Westminster who had expected an autumn polling day.

Even his own Cabinet was kept in the dark until the last minute, with home secretary James Cleverly telling ITV’s Peston “we don’t get particular advance notice” and it was largely a matter for Mr Sunak and his inner circle.