Chris Mason
Political editor

Hello from Rishi Sunak’s speech at the Policy Exchange think tank in central London.

Quite the smattering of ministers in the audience as well as plenty of us reporters.

And instantly in the first sentences, the prime minister frames this as an election speech: the vote will be, he claims, "a choice between the future and the past".

Sunak claims only the Conservatives are "talking about the future".

Labour see this as a desperate rehash of what we have long heard before.

Sunak starts off by saying that at some point this year people will go to the polls to make a choice, not just between the Conservatives and Labour, but between the future and the past.

He says he's confident his party will prevail, because the Conservatives will be the only ones talking about the future.

Sunak says he feels a "profound sense of urgency" because more will change in the next five years than in the last 30.

He says he's convinced the next few years will be the most "dangerous" but "transformational" that the UK has ever known.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has just begun delivering his speech.

We'll be bringing you live updates and analysis throughout, but you can also watch our live stream by pressing the Play button at the top of this page.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Hello from Rishi Sunak’s news conference in central London.

There's a real pre-election campaign feel to things right now.

The prime minister and the Labour leader, who don’t throw themselves in front of the cameras for the sake of it, are doing just that the whole time.

We can barely move for speeches, news conferences, announcements, re-announcements.

There’ll be plenty more where these are coming from.

Another topic Rishi Sunak could reference in his speech coming up shortly is the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures, after official data last week showed the economy grew by 0.6% between January and March.

As a reminder, GDP measures the amount of goods and services an economy produces.

The government can use growing GDP as evidence that it is doing a good job of managing the economy.

Likewise, if GDP falls, opposition politicians say the government is running it badly. Sunak suggested that there was now some strength behind the UK economy, as the latest figures revealed the UK was no longer in recession.

"Of course there's more work to do and I get that and that's why I'm keen to stick to our plan and keep delivering for people,” Sunak said after the figures were released.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats said there was little to celebrate.

"After 14 years of economic chaos, working people are still worse off," said Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said it was the time to call a general election.

Image source, .

National polling puts Labour an average of around 20 points ahead of the Conservatives in general election voting intentions – although individual polls have the Labour lead as high as 30%.

The Tories lost 470 councillors in recent local elections, as well as a key mayoral race in the West Midlands.

The results were deeply disappointing for the Conservatives and suggest that people are voting in line with the national polls, according to BBC senior political analyst Peter Barnes.

A so-called "MRP" poll last month predicted, external a massive Labour landslide.

According to the YouGov poll, if the election had been held in early April, Keir Starmer’s party would have won 403 seats – a majority of 154 in the House of Commons.

The next general election must be held by January 2025 at the latest, although Sunak has said he is minded to call a vote later this year.

You can follow the latest state of the polls on the BBC’s poll tracker.

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’s speeches today come nearly two weeks after this year’s local election results.

The local elections saw Labour win more than 1,000 of the 2,660 council seats up for election in addition to all but one of the 11 mayoral contests.

Ben Houchen was the only Conservative to be elected Mayor, winning second term at the head of the Tees Valley.

In total, Labour increased their number of councillors by 186, the Liberal Democrats by 104, while the Conservatives lost 474 seats. The Greens gained 74 seats and Reform two.

Speaking after the results were announced, Sunak said he was "determined to fight on," adding that the general election result was “not a foregone conclusion”.

Starmer said the West Midlands Mayoral election, which Conservative incumbent Andy Street lost to Labour’s Richard Parker by 1,508 votes, was a "phenomenal result”.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

We'll also hear from Sir Keir Starmer, who is due to meet Labour mayors in the West Midlands later today.

The group will discuss Labour’s next manifesto and the role of mayors in improving regional growth if the party wins power.

Starmer is expected to tell them: "Be in no doubt that this is the key choice at the next election: a changed Labour Party that will raise living standards for everyone, everywhere, or more chaos and decline under the Tories who will never be able to match the ambition of this country."

"We saw the public turning to Labour last week as a first step to getting the change Britain needs. And voting Labour is the only way to end the chaos, turn the page and start to renew all our communities."

Image source, Reuters

Rishi Sunak will make a pre-election pitch to voters later this morning, where he is expected to warn that the UK "stands at a crossroads" ahead of "some of the most dangerous years".

The prime minister is seeking to portray himself as the best person to deal with the challenges after the general election, which is expected to be called before the end of the year.

He will say he has "bold ideas" that can "create a more secure future" for Britons and restore their "confidence and pride in our country".

"I feel a profound sense of urgency because more will change in the next five years than in the last 30," he has said.

Sunak will vow to safeguard the UK against threats of war, a global rise in immigration and "those seeking to undermine our shared values and identities".

And he will pledge to capitalise on opportunities presented by technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in an effort to keep the country’s economy growing.

Read more here.

Welcome to the Sunak and Starmer showpublished at 09:47 British Summer Time 13 May

09:47 BST 13 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

Welcome to the Sunak and Starmer show and welcome to the next four, five, six or seven months of your life.

Even if you pay only fleeting attention to the goings-on in UK politics, you have probably spotted we are seeing rather a lot more of the prime minister and the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

This could begin to feel, perhaps it already feels, like a very, very long general election campaign.

On Friday, Rishi Sunak was talking to economics journalists while Sir Keir was talking to political journalists.

Today, Sunak is in London while his opponent is in the West Midlands.

In big picture terms, we are seeing a classic dynamic being road-tested by either side.

Read more of my analysis here.

Emily Atkinson
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Good morning and welcome to our coverage, as we await a major pre-election speech from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later this morning.

In a pitch to voters, the PM is expected to argue that his "bold ideas" can "create a more secure future" for Britons.

It will be his biggest intervention since the Conservatives' poor showing in the local election - having lost 470 councillors and the key mayoral race in the West Midlands.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is hosting roundtable talks with Labour mayors in the West Midlands to discuss improving regional growth.

It comes as national polling puts the party as much as 20 points ahead of the Conservatives in general election voting intentions.

We’ll be bringing you the live updates and analysis from our political correspondents here, so stay with us.