General election – live: Starmer says ‘number one mission is wealth creation’ in bid to win the middle ground

Sir Keir Starmer has said his top priority is “wealth creation” as he looks to capture the middle ground voters.

In an interview with The Times, the Labour leader issued a pitch to the middle class as he told the paper his “number one mission is wealth creation".

“I think you win from the centre ground, the centre ground is where most people are,” he said.

“As a nation, broadly speaking we’re a pretty reasonable, tolerant bunch but we are in the centre ground of politics. People don’t like the extremes of the right or the left.

“They are reasonably tolerant. They want themselves, their families and the country to improve and make progress."

Sir Keir is set to announce later today a number of proposed employment support and welfare benefits reforms aimed at increasing the employment rate from 75 per cent to 80 per cent.

This includes a new combined national jobs and careers service, local plans for work, health and skills support, and a guarantee of opportunities for young people.

On Tuesday – for only the third time in British history – the two leading candidates to be prime minister will face off against each other on live television. Chief political commentator John Rentoul predicts another poll boost for Labour

The Green Party of England and Wales (the Scottish Greens are separate but linked) was unlucky with the timing of its election campaign launch. Though joint leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are hardly household names even in their own kitchens, and their plans for a more sustainable future were never going to hog the front page of the Daily Mail, the party does increasingly matter. Indeed, it seems set for a record share of the vote at this general election, polling at some 6 per cent, and may win at