Rishi Sunak has jumped aboard the Oxford United bandwagon - literally - with the Tories now using the former OUFC bus for their 'battle tour'. 

Political parties have taken to the road this weekend as the General Election battle bus tours get underway.

As midday approached on Saturday, June 1, Rishi Sunak launched his bus in Redcar on the Yorkshire coast – home turf for the Conservative Prime Minister who will contest the new Richmond and Northallerton seat, within 10 miles of the town.

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The Mercedes-Benz Tourismo features the party’s General Election slogan – “clear plan, bold action, secure future”.

Once the transport for Oxford United, before the football team’s promotion to the EFL Championship, the vehicle is also ultra low emission zone (Ulez) compliant. 

In his Teesside speech, Mr Sunak took aim at his Labour rivals.

The party leader said: “Just see what’s happened over this Diane Abbott situation. And it confirms what we know about him: it’s that he doesn’t stick by anything he says, just constantly changes his mind.

“And it’s clear that Angela Rayner is in charge of the Labour Party and not him.”

The digs came both ways - as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joked they would have to check Boris Johnson was not hiding in their bus fridge - after an notorious incident when Mr Johnson hid in a fridge to avoid a TV interview in the run-up to the 2019 election.

Sir Keir joined Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves in West London to launch their 5000-mile UK tour. 

The trio were in Uxbridge, where voters went to the polls in June last year. Following the departure of former prime minister Boris Johnson, the Conservatives held on to the seat at a by-election by 495 votes.

Labour’s bus is a brand-new, 73-reg Yutong coach – and it’s also Ulez compliant, so did not incur a charge in Uxbridge.

The word “Change” – the party’s General Election slogan – appears on the bright red bus more than 30 times.

The party will use its bus to champion its “power up” agenda, which could become a successor to the Conservatives’ flagship “levelling up” thread if Labour is able to form a government next month.

Liberal Democrats' party leader Sir Ed Davey unveiled Yellow Hammer 1 in Whittlesford, near Cambridge – a Van Hool emblazoned with the words “Liberal Democrats for a fair deal”.

Launching the tour last Sunday (May 26), he made reference to hospitals “with dangerous crumbling roofs” and “sewage pouring into” wards and promised to introduce a 10-year rolling repair programme for the NHS estate.

Reform UK also began its campaign tour on an open-top bus this week with honorary president Nigel Farage aboard in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday with candidate and former Conservative MP Lee Anderson.