Newspaper headlines: 'Faltering election start' and 'General ejection'

Rishi Sunak is shown a bottling machine during a visit to the Vale of Glamorgan Brewery

Friday's papers are dominated by yesterday's first day of election campaigning.

The Financial Times suggests it was an awkward start for the prime minister, with some senior Conservatives continuing to lament the decision to call an early election. According to the broadsheet, they are worried the Tories have no message beyond the economy. It claimed one, unnamed, frontbencher said the party had not got its campaign lines set, arguing that Conservatives were on track to lose half their seats. It is all very "Charge of the Light Brigade stuff", the minister tells the paper - a reference to the doomed attack by British cavalry during the Crimean War.

The Daily Mirror also argues the first day was bad for Mr Sunak - with his admission the Rwanda flights would not take off before the poll, and Conservative attacks over the election date. It says leaked WhatsApp messages show "furious Tory members" criticising the move.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Rishi Sunak has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to a televised debate every week until polling day. But writing for the paper, the prime minister claims the Labour leader will not take up the offer because he 'doesn't have a plan for the country'. Labour said it would take part in the debates but has not said how many.

According to the Times, both the Conservatives and Labour will seek to make energy a key election battleground, as household utility bills fall to their lowest level for two years. The paper says the Tories will focus on Labour's green energy plans, and accuse the party of failing to be honest about the costs to households of its environmental pledges. The paper says Sir Keir has promised to stop families paying "over the odds"' for power - claiming utility bills are still £400 higher than before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Keir Starmer greets a baby - stalwarts of election photo opportunities - in Gillingham, Kent

The Guardian argues that Mr Sunak's legacy is looking "increasingly threadbare" as he drops flagship policies - on Rwanda and smoking - before Parliament is suspended today. It says Labour has warned that the government's legislative programme is now in tatters, with many proposed laws "in the air or in the bin".

The Times reports that new figures from the Department of Health show the number of abortions in England and Wales are at their highest level on record. More than 250,000 women in the two nations had abortions, up 17% in a year, and the most since the Abortion Act of 1967. It says experts attribute the rise to financial pressures putting women off having children, and improved access to "at home" abortions because of the pills-by-post scheme introduced during the pandemic.

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