ITV proclaims ANOTHER common election showdown on June 13

ITV is to host another general election debate on June 13 as the Tories fight to claw back ground on Labour.

The 90-minute programme will feature ‘leaders or senior representatives’ from the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP, Reform, Greens and Plaid Cymru. 

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have been setting up one-on-one contests between them, with ITV due to stage the first of those on Tuesday.

Mr Sunak will be desperate to land solid hits on Sir Keir then with a poll showing the Tories still 25 points behind Labour – despite strong support for striking policies they have unveiled.

The latest YouGov tracker found the Conservatives on just 21 per cent, with Keir Starmer‘s party on 46 per cent. The advantage was down two points overall since the beginning of the week, but the change was within the margin of error.

The effective standstill will be a disappointment as high-profile policy announcements on tax cuts for pensioners and axing ‘rip off’ degrees received backing. 

Compulsory national service was endorsed as an idea by 57 per cent of over-65s – a target group for the Tories – although by just 18 per cent of 18-24 year-olds. 

Meanwhile, there are signs that Reform has gained support after a series of high-profile interventions from Nigel Farage. 

Rishi Sunak has been dealt a blow with a poll showing the Tories still 25 points behind Labour – despite strong support for striking policies they have unveiled

The latest YouGov tracker found the Conservatives on just 21 per cent, with Keir Starmer ‘s party on 46 per cent

Keir Starmer’s advantage was down two points overall since the beginning of the week, but the change was within the margin of error

Although the Brexit champion has decided against standing, he has been hammering home messages on immigration – including brutal clashes with Piers Morgan last night on the BBC‘s flagship Question Time programme.

YouGov found Reform’s support had risen from 12 per cent to 15 per cent in the past few days.

So far there have been few signs of the narrowing in the polls that CCHQ have been hoping for, although five weeks of the campaign remain.

Research by JL Partners shared exclusively with the Daily Mail found only four in ten have ‘definitely decided’ how to vote.

But in a sign of the mountain the Tories still have to climb, the survey gave Labour a 23 point lead.

Overall, it put Labour on a 47 per cent vote share, with the Tories on 24 per cent, and Reform UK on 11 per cent.

The poll also suggests Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves are more trusted with running the economy than the Prime Minister and Jeremy Hunt.

And the Labour leader is named as the best prime minister by 37 per cent to 19 per cent – though nearly half of all voters say they do not know.

He is, however, perceived as ‘dull’ and ‘indecisive’, while Mr Sunak is branded ‘out of touch’ and ‘out of his depth’.

There are signs that Reform has gained support after a series of high-profile interventions from Nigel Farage (pictured)

Nearly two thirds – 63 per cent – of voters expect the election to result in a Labour majority, with just 5 per cent predicting a Tory majority.

Overall, only 42 per cent of those surveyed said they had definitely decided how to vote, while 27 per cent said they were leaning towards a party but may change their mind.

Some 13 per cent said they were ‘completely undecided’ but would probably vote, 13 per cent said they ‘probably won’t vote’, while 5 per cent ‘don’t know’.

And only 54 per cent of 2019 Conservatives voters switching to Labour say they have definitely decided how to vote.