General Election 2024 – live: Michael Gove joins exodus of MPs as Sunak hopes for Boris Johnson in campaign

The Conservatives are scrambling to find candidates for almost a third of constituencies after Rishi Sunak's decision to keep many of his party's senior figures in the dark about his decision to call a snap election, writes political editor David Maddox .

So far, 76 Conservative MPs have announced their resignation:

Prominent minister Michael Gove has become the 77th Conservative MP to stand down from the election.

Announcing his decision on social media, the Leveling and Housing Secretary said: There comes a time when you know it's time to leave. That a new generation should lead.

Mr Gove, who once vied with Boris Johnson to become leader of the Conservative Party, said he would do everything he could to support Rishi Sunak in the election.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will not keep his former pledge to scrap university tuition fees.

The promise was made during his 2020 leadership campaign, but was abandoned last year.

He says: I certainly believe we need to change the current arrangements because I don't think they are fair.

He added that Labor will only make general election promises that we know we can keep.

Instead of scrapping tuition fees, he said the party had chosen to pump more money into the NHS.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has firmly ruled out any deal with the SNP after July's general election, insisting his party could under no circumstances work with Scottish nationalists.

He was campaigning in the Glasgow East constituency, one of the Scottish seats Labor hopes to win from the SNP.

But when asked if he could work with John Swinney's party in the event of a hung parliament, Sir Keir said there would be absolutely no deal with the SNP.

He said there would obviously be no deal before the election, but added that there would be no deal on the other side of the election, whatever the circumstances.

It's not just a question of mathematics, because there is no way a new Labor government could work in any way with the SNP, whose only ambition is to divide the UK, he said. added.

Rishi Sunak said he was motivated and having fun two days into the election campaign, despite a rocky start when he was drenched in Downing Street as he announced the election, made a gaffe footballer and had been mocked for having visited the Titanic district.

The Prime Minister has been on a whirlwind tour of the UK since the vote was announced on Wednesday, visiting Belfast and the West Midlands on Friday.

On the flight from Belfast, Mr Sunak said he was ready to fight. He said: I love doing this. I've been doing this since the beginning of the year, I've been going out about two, three days a week since the beginning of the year and I love it.

But he acknowledged there were also difficult days as prime minister, adding that he took inspiration from Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, who returned to Parliament on Wednesday after suffering a quadruple amputation.

In Belfast, Mr Sunak visited an advanced maritime manufacturing plant in the Titanic Quarter, leading to unfortunate comparisons with his party's fortunes.

Sir Keir Starmer said Rishi Sunak's attacks on Labour's asylum policy were as stupid as he looked standing in the rain without an umbrella, Archie Mitchell reports.

In a bitter response to the Prime Minister's claim that Labor would offer amnesty to thousands of asylum seekers, Sir Keir attacked Mr Sunak's rainy election speech.

Sir Keir also outlined Labor's plans to crack down on smuggling gangs to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

And he attacked the prime minister's deportation plan to Rwanda, saying the prime minister's admission that there will be no flights before the election calls into question his confidence in the Rwanda plan.

Independent candidate Sean Galloway Stewart announced he would fight on July 4.

He will fight for a seat in the Eltham constituency.