We’re closing this live blog shortly, but will be back again from 10pm tonight to cover the results of the three byelections. Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day: Polls opened this morning in three parliamentary seats where byelections are being held, with Rishi Sunak braced for an electoral test of his premiership. Voters have been able to cast their ballots from 7am in the south-western Tory stronghold of Somerton and Frome, Boris Johnson’s old seat in the west London suburbs Uxbridge and South Ruislip, as well as Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire. Ministers will lay out their final year of legislation at King Charles’ first king’s speech in November, the government has confirmed. Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, said on Thursday the king’s speech will take place on 7 November, in what is likely to be the last such speech before a general election. Lobbying rules will be toughened up across Whitehall in a long-awaited response by ministers to issues raised by the Greensill scandal, the Guardian has learned. Government departments will be forced to release more information about meetings with lobbyists and extend current requirements for disclosure to phone and video calls, sources say. Rishi Sunak has criticised the European Union’s “regrettable choice of words” after it appeared to have endorsed the name Argentina uses for the Falkland Islands. A diplomatic row erupted after the EU referred to the islands as “Islas Malvinas” in a declaration jointly signed with Argentina and other Latin American countries. The ongoing Stormont stalemate is “totally unsustainable”, the Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, has said. Following a meeting with the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, at Hillsborough Castle, O’Neil said engagement would continue, but stressed it had to be meaningful. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng received about £400 in severance pay for every day they were in office, according to government accounts published on Thursday. The former prime minister and former chancellor each received more than £16,000 on leaving their jobs after just a few weeks, the Treasury’s annual report shows, while Tom Scholar, the department’s most senior civil servant, received £457,000 after being sacked by Truss. You can follow our liveblog on the Ukraine-Russia war here:
That’s it from me today. Thanks so much for joining me and for all your comments and emails.