Nigel Farage is back with a Tory takeover in his sights

With a landslide victory for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party predicted, the UK general election looks to be all over bar the shouting.

But then this week the shoutiest voice in British politics, Nigel Farage, announced he is to run for Reform UK.

Mark Paul explains why that’s more bad news for the Tories – and a jolt of excitement in what has been a dull run up to the July 4th election.

Also on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak was judged to have won the first televised leaders debate. The Irish Times London correspondent was in “the spin room” afterwards – upstairs in the Coronation Street visitors’ centre – with party advisers, media and politicians, and he says the Sunak side took the (slight) win as a glimmer of hope. But why, when he’s so far behind?