UK: Rishi Sunak's chances were always slim. And the numbers just get worse
Was this the week the wheels came off for Rishi Sunak? After two weeks of campaigning for “a clear plan of bold action for a secure future” the verdict in the polls is clear: voters don’t like his clear plan, they don’t want his bold actions, and they believe their future will be more secure without him. All of this was true even before the prime minister’s calamitous Thursday afternoon decision to leave D-day commemorations early for a pre-recorded media interview.
Make no mistake: the Conservatives are now staring down the barrel. Their campaign is failing on every front, with precious little time left. Voters are making their minds up, and what the prime minister offers is not what they want.
A key theme of every recent Conservative campaign has been to build up the leader and sow doubts about their opponent. But a leader-focused approach only makes sense if voters like your leader, or at least prefer them to the alternative. The prime minister’s three Tory predecessors all started their campaigns ahead, giving them an advantage to try to press home.
Sunak has no such advantage. His leader approvals at the start of the campaign are among the worst ever recorded – as bad as Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, or Gordon Brown in the depths of the financial crisis. His campaign trail choices have not improved things. Keir Starmer may not set hearts racing, but running against such an opponent he does not have to. Starmer began this campaign with the same leader ratings advantage as Tony Blair had over John Major in 1997.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/08/rishi-sunaks-chances-were-always-slim-and-the-numbers-just-get-worse
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