Tag Archives: Rishi Sunak

‘Pure Comedy, Chaos And Shambles’: The Best Jokes About Sunak’s Damp Start To The General Election

Posted on by
Reply

Rishi Sunak’s bold decision to call a general election in the middle of yesterday’s downpour has opened the floodgates on social media.

The prime minister stood outside No.10 Downing Street, in the pouring rain, and declared a general election would be held on July 4.

He then immediately tried to rally voters with a few digs at Labour over the party’s campaigns and policies.

But, no one really focused on that. Most of the attention was on Sunak’s suit, which became completely sodden within minutes.

While all the journalists there to capture the historic moment were sensibly wearing coats or carrying umbrellas, the PM’s bizarre decision to go without for such a pivotal moment, has been demolished by everyone, including today’s newspapers.

Protesters also blared Labour’s 1997 election theme tune – D:Ream’s Things Will Only Get Better – throughout the PM’s speech.

And so critics were quick to coin the phrase “Things Will Only Get Wetter” in a scathing take on Sunak’s announcement.

Considering the Conservatives are around 20 points behind Labour in the opinion polls right now, the image of a downtrodden Sunak standing in the rain was seen as an apt metaphor by many people on social media.

Others pointed out that the Conservatives actually set up an expensive press conference room within No.10, which is warm, dry and available to use.

Either way, the impact that image of a soaked Sunak has had among his online critics – and the newspapers – is clearly significant.

Here’s a round-up of social media’s best jokes about the embarrassing PR gaffe…

Share Button

Voter In Rishi Sunak Campaign Video Came ‘Close’ To ‘Clobbering’ The Prime Minister

Posted on by
Reply

Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been hit by another blunder after he released a video featuring a voter who said he came “close” to hitting him.

A slick promotional video published on X by Sunak, showed him delivering the speech in Downing Street and meeting voters across the country.

One member of the public Sunak is pictured with is Josef Schindler, in Altrincham market, on January 6.

Schindler posted a photograph of him and the prime minister on Facebook at the time.

In the comments below the post, Schindler was told: “You do look like you’re going to clobber him.”

He reacted with a laughing emoji and replied simply: “close”.

His speech was also disrupted by Labour Party anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ being played by protesters nearby.

The shambolic opening to the campaign was headlined “things can only get wetter” by the even the Conservative supporting Daily Telegraph.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Sunak said he was the “first to admit that it was a bit wet”.

Share Button

Ofcom Reaches Decision Over GB News Broadcast Featuring Rishi Sunak

Posted on by
Reply

Ofcom has ruled that GB News broke guidelines around impartiality with a broadcast involving prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.

Back in February, Sunak held what was billed as a “people’s forum” in which he answered questions from undecided voters in County Durham in a much-derided live broadcast.

A week after it aired, it was revealed that more than 500 viewers had complained to Ofcom about the segment, which led to an investigation.

On Monday morning, the media regulator confirmed that GB News did, in fact, break impartiality guidelines by not incorporating a more “wide range of significant views” into what was technically a news broadcast.

In a statement on their website, they explained: “Ofcom has no issue with this programme’s editorial format in principle. In line with freedom of expression, broadcasters are free to innovate and use different editorial techniques in their programming – including offering audiences innovative forms of debate. But in doing so, they must observe the rules in our Broadcasting Code.

“We recognised that this programme would focus mainly on the Conservative Party’s policies and track-record on a number of specific issues, meaning that Conservative viewpoints would be prevalent. We are clear that this, in and of itself, did not mean the programme could not comply with due impartiality rules under the Code.

“It was incumbent on GB News, however, given the major matters under discussion, to ensure that an appropriately wide range of significant views was given due weight in the programme or in other clearly linked and timely programmes.”

GB News could now face sanctions due to this breach, with Ofcom adding: “Given the very high compliance risks this programme presented, we found GB News’s approach to compliance to be wholly insufficient, and consider it could have, and should have, taken additional steps to mitigate these risks.

“We found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints were not presented and given due weight in the People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, nor was due impartiality preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes.

“As a result, we consider that the Prime Minister had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election.”

This is far from the first time that GB News has been in hot water with Ofcom, though.

Last year, it faced another investigation due to a live broadcast which saw Laurence Fox launching into a sexist tirade against a female journalist during an appearance on Dan Wootton’s evening show.

Ofcom later ruled that this also breached guidelines, as did a separate live show fronted by Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, for which the station was later put “on notice”.

In response to Ofcom’s latest decision, a GB News spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “Ofcom’s finding against GB News today is an alarming development in its attempt to silence us by standing in the way of a forum that allows the public to question politicians directly.

“The regulator’s threat to punish a news organisation with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital.”

It went on to claim that their live programme gave an “gave an independently selected group of undecided voters the freedom to challenge the Prime Minister” and that they “cannot fathom” how Ofcom came to their conclusion.

They say the ruling should “terrifying anyone” who believes the “media’s role is to give a voice to the people of the United Kingdom”.

GB News’ statement concluded by saying: “We are proud to be the People’s Channel and we will never stop fighting for the right of everyone in the UK, whatever their political persuasion, to have their perspective heard.”

This article has been updated to include GB News’ response to Ofcom’s ruling.

Share Button

Rishi Sunak’s ‘Hung Parliament’ Prediction In Tatters As Labour Takes 30-Point Poll Lead

Posted on by
Reply

Labour has taken a 30-point opinion poll lead over the Tories – just days after Rishi Sunak said the UK was heading for a hung parliament.

YouGov put support for Keir Starmer’s party on 48%, with the Conservatives on just 18%.

Reform UK are just five points behind the Tories on 13%, with the Lib Dems on 9% and the Greens on 7%.

It is the biggest lead Labour has enjoyed since Liz Truss’s disastrous time as prime minister.

The poll is yet another hammer blow for Sunak, who is still reeling from Natalie Elphicke’s shock defection to Labour yesterday.

Earlier this week, the PM said last week’s local elections – in which the Tories lost nearly 500 council seats – “suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.

But according to the Electoral Calculus website, Labour would have a 452-seat majority if the YouGov poll was replicated at the general election, with the Tories left with just 13 seats.

Announcing his decision on X (formerly Twitter) he said: “The time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon.”

Share Button

‘Taking Them For Fools’: BBC Presenter Nails The Big Flaws In Sunak’s ‘Coalition Of Chaos’ Claim

Posted on by
Reply

A Tory minister was skewered by a BBC presenter over Rishi Sunak’s claim that the UK is heading for a hung parliament at the next election.

Health minister Maria Caulfield struggled to answer as Justin Webb pointed out the major flaws in the prime minister’s argument.

Sunak has said an analysis of last week’s local elections, in which the Tories lost nearly 500 seats, showed Keir Starmer will not win a majority and will need to be “propped up by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens”.

That was a reference to a projection by the polling expert Michael Thrasher, who said the results suggest Labour’s lead over the Conservatives is just seven points, well short of what opinion polls have been saying for months.

However, other polling experts pointed out that Thrasher’s forecast was based on the assumption that Scotland – where there were no local elections last week – would vote the same way it did in 2019, when Labour won just one seat.

On Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, Webb told Caulfield: “Let’s look at what you and the prime minister are depending on.

“Number one: it’s not a prediction, it’s a projection based on these results. In other words, if these results were replicated, this would be the result in a general election. But people vote much more for third parties in local elections than they would in a general election.

“Number two, how many seats under this projection, would Labour win in Scotland?”

Caulfield replied: “Well I think because there were English local elections it doesn’t touch on the Scottish result.”

Webb then told her: “It assumes it would be the same as last time, so one seat. Do you seriously think that’s probable, that Labour will only win one seat in Scotland?”

Avoiding the question, the minister replied: “Polls are just projections and the polls were clearly wrong ahead of these local elections.”

But Webb said: “So do you believe that in Scotland, Labour will only win one seat at the next election? Is that the working assumption of the prime minister, because that seems to be it?”

The minister said: “These are not our analysis, and the BBC did their own analysis as well and showed it will be a hung parliament based on these results.”

Webb then told her: “But that’s the point, isn’t it? Based on these results, but nobody is suggesting that these results would be replicated at a general election. The experts aren’t suggesting it.

“I put it to you that the prime minister, if he is suggesting it to his own side, he’s taking them for fools.”

But Caulfield said: “What we can see from these results, is that people are not switching to Labour. Labour did not get the results in places like Teesside or Harlow that they were expecting, even though they threw the kitchen sink at some of those.

“Our voters are tending, at the moment, to stay at home. They don’t want a Labour government.

“The polls that were saying we would lose by about 20% did not materialise in London, did not materialise with Andy Street in the West Midlands, and we had some good results as well.”

Share Button

Rishi Sunak Has Admitted Labour Are On Course To Win The General Election

Posted on by
Reply

Labour are on course to win the general election, Rishi Sunak has admitted.

In extraordinary remarks, the prime minister said they will be “the largest party” after the country goes to the polls.

However, he insisted an analysis of last week’s local elections, in which the Tories lost nearly 500 seats, showed Keir Starmer will not win a majority and will need to be “propped up by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Greens”.

That was a reference to a projection by the polling expert Michael Thrasher, who said the local elections suggest Labour’s lead over the Conservatives is just seven points, well short of what opinion polls have been saying for months.

If that was repeated at the general election, it would leave Starmer short of an overall majority, Thrasher said.

Speaking to The Times, Sunak said: “These results suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party.

“Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.

“The country doesn’t need more political horse trading, but action. We are the only party that has a plan to deliver on the priorities of the people.”

However, other polling experts pointed out that Thrasher’s forecast was based on the assumption that Scotland – where there were no local elections last week – would vote the same way it did in 2019, when Labour won just one seat.

A senior Labour source told HuffPost UK: “That Sunak has put his name to this bollocks is utterly demeaning. He really is a totally empty vessel.”

A former Tory minister said: “It’s a stupid line because he’s essentially telling people to vote Labour to kick us out.”

Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips yesterday accused transport secretary Mark Harper of “grabbing at straws” after he also claimed the local election results showed the opinion polls “are not correct”.

Share Button

‘Grabbing At Straws!’ Trevor Phillips Calls Out Minister For Spin On Local Elections Disaster

Posted on by
Reply

Trevor Phillips called out transport secretary Mark Harper for his bizarrely optimistic take on the Tories’ terrible performance in the local elections.

The Conservatives lost almost 500 councillors, along with 10 police and crime commissioners.

The governing party also has just one metro mayor now after voters in England and Wales went to the ballot box on Thursday.

But, overlooking these devastating losses, Harper seemed to focus on just one piece of analysis in his interview – Sky News’ forecast that the next general election will result in a hung parliament.

He told the broadcaster: “That means Keir Starmer is not on course to win a majority, and that is before an election campaign where Labour’s lack of policy will come under scrutiny.

“So what that shows me is very clear: the polls are not correct, there is everything to fight for, and the Conservative Party under the prime minister’s leadership is absolutely up for that fight.”

That same projection from Sky still shows the Tories losing 130 seats.

Sky News host Phillips said: “This is grabbing at straws a bit – you actually took a whacking.”

“I was very clear – these are disappointing results,” Harper replied. “The point is, what they demonstrate from that scenario is that Labour’s not on course for that majority, Keir Starmer hasn’t sealed the deal with the public.

“So that means there is a fight to be had, the prime minister is up for that fight, I’m up for that fight and I know the Conservatives are up for it.”

“I’m wondering if you’ve really got to grips with the scale of this,” Phillips said. “On Thursday, you won fewer council seats than Labour. And more importantly, you won fewer council seats than the Liberal Democrats.”

Labour now have 1,140 councillors in England, the Liberal Democrats 521 and the Conservatives 513.

The presenter said: “I know these are local elections so you can’t translate completely, but is it morally right that what is now the third most popular party is now squatting in Downing Street?”

“I don’t accept that analysis at all,” the cabinet minister replied.

“The Liberal Democrats beat you,” Phillips reminded him.

“No they didn’t,” Harper insisted. “If you look at the national equivalent vote share, that’s not correct.”

He said local elections are “always difficult” for the party in government, and that the results of the next general election “are not pre-determined”.

Share Button

How Tory Mayors Are Pretending Not To Be Tories In A Desperate Bid To Avoid Defeat

Posted on by
Reply

Tory mayors have distanced themselves from their party and Rishi Sunak in a desperate attempt to get re-elected.

Ben Houchen and Andy Street face major fights to hang onto their jobs when voters go to the polls in Tees Valley and the West Midlands.

With the Conservatives trailing well behind Labour in the national opinion polls, both men have gone out of their way to avoid admitting they are actually Tories.

Street’s website has no Tory branding and is mainly coloured green rather than the traditional Conservative blue.

Meanwhile, his 300-word biography contains no mention at all of the party he represents.

Andy Street's website has no Tory bradfing.
Andy Street’s website has no Tory bradfing.

Andy Street

Houchen’s website does describe him as “the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley”, but during his election campaign he has at times gone out of his way to play down his party affiliation.

In a video posted on Facebook, he said: “I’m less interested in national politics, I am the mayor of Tees Valley. My priority is always the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.”

And campaign leaflets put through doors in his area also fail to mention the party he represents.

A Ben Houchen campaign leaflet.
A Ben Houchen campaign leaflet.

Ben Houchen

In a further snub for Sunak, both Street and Houchen were happy to receive the endorsement of Boris Johnson rather than the PM yesterday.

Johnson sent a letter to voters in the West Midlands urging them to vote for Street, while he also recorded a video for Houchen.

A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Rishi Sunak chickened out of calling a general election and now his mayoral candidates are too scared to even acknowledge him.

“It seems they’ve concluded the only way they can win is to distance themselves from the failed Tory Party and pretend they’ve never heard of their beleaguered prime minister.”

Share Button

Fresh Headache For Sunak As Polls Predict A Labour Mayor Will Be Elected On His Doorstep

Posted on by
Reply

New polling suggests there could soon be a Labour mayor elected to the combined authority which Rishi Sunak’s own constituency sits in.

According to research from left-leaning Labour Together think tank, those who have already decided how they will be voting in Thursday’s York and North Yorkshire mayoral election are backing Keir Starmer’s party.

Labour’s David Skaith is on 41 points in the polls compared to the Tories’ Keane Duncan, who lags behind on 27 points.

The poll, conducted between April 26 and 30, also found 23% of the local electorate did not intend to vote, while 22% remain undecided.

This is the first time a mayor will be elected for the combined authority, which encompasses Sunak’s Richmond constituency.

It is one of the many eagerly anticipated local elections taking place this week.

Although a relatively small proportion of the population will be casting votes for their local authorities, it is a good way to measure the public’s attitudes towards Westminster parties ahead of the general election.

And it’s already looking pretty bleak for the Tories.

Of the eight constituencies in York and North Yorkshire, Labour only holds two right now including former Tory safe seat Selby, which was secured in a by-election last year.

The area is still seen as a Conservative stronghold, but it seems this could all start to shift with this week’s local elections.

Director of research at Labour Together, Christabel Cooper, said: “After a 21% swing toward the party in Selby and Ainsty last summer, our polling shows that Labour is competitive everywhere, including in Rishi Sunak’s backyard in North Yorkshire.

“A win here would indicate a terrible night for Prime Minister.”

Labour are on course to secure a further three seats in the area from the Tories, according to projections.

Sunak has held the seat comfortably since being elected in 2015, winning a majority of 19,550 in 2019.

But, a mega-poll conducted by Survation MRP for Best for Britain concluded in March that the PM’s lead in his seat will drop to be less than 2.5% over Labour – and that’s including the expected margin of error seen in most polls.

The same research suggested the Tories will win fewer than 100 seats in the next general election, if the Conservative share of the vote is translated into MPs.

Share Button

‘You’re Going To Get A Drubbing’: Trevor Phillips Tells Sunak Tories Are Heading For Defeat

Posted on by
Reply

Rishi Sunak has been told by Trevor Phillips that the Tories are “going to get a drubbing” at Thursday’s local elections.

The Sky News presenter delivered the stark warning as he challenged the prime minister to either quit or call a general election for July.

The pair clashed as rebel Conservative MPs ponder whether to try to oust the PM before the country goes to the polls.

Experts predict that the Tories will lose up to 500 council seats on Thursday, while the futures of high-profile mayors Ben Houchen and Andy Street hang in the balance.

Phillips told Sunak: “You are going to get a drubbing at the local elections.

“How many seats do you have to lose before you accept that the people have lost confidence in you? And it’s time either for you to stand down or to call a general election.”

In response, the PM repeatedly refused to rule out a July general election.

“When it comes to a general election, I’ve been very clear about that multiple times,” he said.

In January, Sunak said his “working assumption” was that it would take place in the second half of the year.

Phillips said: “Second half of this year could be July.”

The PM replied: “I’m not going to say anything more than I’ve already said, I’ve been very clear about that.”

The presenter told him: “I just need to know when to book my holidays. July is possible?”

But Sunak said: “Actually, Trevor, it’s more important than your holiday or anyone’s holiday. I’ve got a job to do which is delivering for the country.”

Share Button