The electoral map of the South East is almost exclusively blue at the moment, but whilst there are several very safe seats, there are also plenty of constituencies that could see a change in the upcoming election.

We've compiled this list of the most vulnerable seats in Kent and Sussex.

Theresa May has used a general election campaign visit to indicate she will stick with the government's long-running aim of reducing migration to below 100,000.

The target, first set by David Cameron in 2010, has the latest figures showed net migration was 273,000.

Speaking at a radar manufacturing company in Enfield, north London, Mrs May said she wanted "sustainable" levels of migration which she said would be in the tens of thousands.

She said the election was about "ensuring that we have strong and stable leadership in this country" as well as strengthening the government's hand in Brexit talks.  

Read more: May sticks with net migration pledge

Image source, Reuters

David Dimbleby will be joined by Mishal Husain, Emily Maitlis, Jeremy Vine for the BBC's election night coverage, external, the corporation has confirmed. 

This 8 June poll will be the 10th time he leads the results team.  

Huw Edwards will be the lead presenter throughout the day on 9 June, with Andrew Neil taking over from Hussain.  Edwards will also present the evening bulletin

James Harding, director of news, says: “This snap election surprised the country and election night is bound to be one of the most closely followed in recent times.

“BBC’s results night will once again offer people the most reliable breaking news, impartial analysis, with a host of trusted experts and above all our unrivalled presenting team.”

The programme will be broadcast simultaneously on BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC World News.  

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Jeremy Corbyn provided two very big clues today to how he will fight the campaign - and for two main reasons.

First, he is opting to have the clearest dividing lines between government and opposition in more than three decades - ever since Labour pledged to scrap nuclear weapons and leave the EU in 1983.

He suggested the Conservatives were "morally bankrupt" and attacked the elites.

But he is also drawing a clear line between his leadership and his party's New Labour past.  

Read more

Image source, AFP

Northern Ireland politicians will be given more time to reach a deal to restore a power-sharing executive at Stormont after the Westminster election on 8 June, the BBC understands.

The secretary of state, James Brokenshire, had set early May as the deadline for the current talks process.

It is thought the new deadline will be the end of June.

The provisions to form an executive by that date will be included in emergency legislation that will be fast tracked through Westminster.

Read more: Stormont power-sharing talks deadline extended

Image source, Labour Party

Former shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher says he is stepping down at the next election "to make a difference in life outside of politics" and spend more time with his family.  

The MP for Barnsley East since 2010 has become the the 11th Labour MP to announce he is quitting ahead of the snap poll on 8 June, 

Speaking to the Politics Home website, external, Mr Dugher says Labour "must be a party which is in touch with working class people and one that can get into government so we can actually do something to really help people".

More on former UKIP leader Nigel Farage's descision not to stand in the General Election.

The MEP told the Daily Telegraph, external he could have had an "easy win" in the former UKIP seat of Clacton but had decided to "fight for Brexit in Europe" instead.

Mr Farage, who is chairman of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group in the European Parliament, has failed in seven attempts to get elected to Westminster - including at Thanet South in 2015.  

He said an election win would be a "personal vindication" to get into the Commons "after all these years".

But he added: “If I compare the platform I have in Strasbourg to being a backbench MP, there is frankly no comparison...

"I believe I can use my profile in European politics to put real pressure on MEPs to vote for a sensible deal with the UK."

Read more: Nigel Farage won't stand as an MP

Image source, EPA

Will the prime minister choose to retain Britain's commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on international aid?

Further to some pundits' verdict on Dawn Butler's earlier exchange with Eddie Mair (see previous entry) here's the interview in question.

The Brent Central MP has since issued a correction to one of her remarks:

The exchange between Labour MP Dawn Butler and Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4's PM programme has been attracting comment on Twitter - with many posts describing it as a "car crash" interview.

The Brent Central MP accused Theresa May of "rigging the system" by calling the 8 June general election but was repeatedly asked what Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meant when he used the phrase in his speech earlier.

The SDLP, Sinn Fein and the Green Party have discussed the possibility of forming an anti-Brexit alliance in the run up to the general election. 

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says: "We are talking about reaching out to people who want to put up a challenge to Brexiteers, who want to remind Theresa May and the people in the European Union that Northern Ireland voted to remain." 

The Alliance Party insisted it was not interested in entering into any election pacts but Mr Eastwood said he hoped to discuss the issue with party leader Naomi Long.

Radio 4 PM

Labour MP Dawn Butler has accused Theresa May of "rigging the system" by calling the 8 June General election.

But in an interview with Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, the Brent Central MP struggled to explain what her leader Jeremy Corbyn meant when he used the term in his speech.

In a broadcast lasting several minutes, Ms Butler was asked a number of times: "How will Labour overturn this rigged system Jeremy Corbyn is talking about?"

She replied: "Labour will make this country fairer and that's how they will overturn a rigged system. Theresa May is trying to rig democracy in our country."

When pressed by Mair that more details were needed, Ms Butler commented: "You're talking about how Jeremy will overturn a rigged system, and what I'm trying to explain to you is how the Conservative party and how Theresa May operates in terms of rigging the system and one example of Theresa May trying to rig the system is her calling this election."

The interview continued in much the same vein, with Mair asking: "If the calling of the election was rigged - why did Labour support it?"

BBC News Channel

Image source, PA

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said supporters of Gerard Coyne, who has been suspended from his job as a Unite union regional official ahead of his leadership challenge, believe it is an attempt "to derail or noble his position".

Norman said the election of the next general secretary of the Unite - Britain's most powerful union - "is pivotal to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership".

The suspension has taken place on the eve of votes being counted in the union's leadership ballot.

If Mr Coyne's challenge is successful - and Norman says he is told the result is on a knife edge - it is possible his suspension might make it nul and void.

Evening Standard

Image source, Reuters

According to former Lib Dem deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, "the haste with which this election was called, not just to exploit the haplessness of Labour but to lure voters into the Conservative corner before bad Brexit news becomes fully apparent, may begin to feel a little too tricksy, too cynical for many people’s tastes".

Writing in the Evening Standard, he said: "And if that makes some older voters uneasy, it could enrage younger ones.

"Not only have they been told that their overwhelming vote for Remain last year counts for nothing, not only will they have to pay the consequences of a future they didn’t vote for, now they are being told they’ll have to swallow a 'hard' Brexit without complaint.

"You can only take voters for granted for so long before a reaction develops."

Read more, external

Shadow Scottish Secretary Dave Anderson confirms he will not seek re-election at the snap election in June.

Image source, PA

Theresa May has restated her commitment to cutting annual net migration to a "sustainable" level in the tens of thousands. 

Questions were raised about whether the commitment would feature in the Conservative manifesto for the upcoming General Election, after a Cabinet minister suggested that the issue was "not about numbers" but about ensuring Britain had the skilled workers it needs.

But speaking during an election visit to Enfield, in north London, Mrs May said: 

Wolverhampton North East Labour MP Emma Reynolds is gearing up for another campaign run - just days after giving birth to her first child.

She said any thoughts of a "period of quiet" with her family had "gone out of the window with the announcement of a general election".

Little Theo was born on Good Friday. 

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has used his first major speech of the election campaign to pledge to put the "interests of the majority first".

He said the British people were being held back by a system "rigged" for the wealth extractors. 

Jeremy Corbyn was passionate and energised. The election, he insisted, was not a foregone conclusion; Labour could defy what he called the "establishment experts." 

There was a cosy cartel at the top of society, he said: the City, tax dodgers, the media and unscrupulous bosses.

"Of course those people don't want us to win," Mr Corbyn told party activists in Westminster, "because when we win, it's the people, not the powerful, who win."

The Labour leader appeared to leave open the possibility of a second EU referendum, but the party later said that wouldn't be in their manifesto.

Theresa May claimed this proved that "chaos" would follow if Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister.