As the days unfold, increasingly it’s impossible not to feel sympathy for Rishi Sunak.
Of course, he knew what he was leading. Of course, he sought the top job. But oh dear, did he ever suppose it would be as bad as this?
By now, if things had gone to plan, Sunak could be affording himself a pat on the back.
Always trailing Labour and Keir Starmer, with a week to go he’d managed to keep the Tory general election campaign on track. A cohesive party had focused attention on Labour’s supposed secret tax agenda, judged by the Tory strategists to be Labour’s Achilles heel.
At focus groups, time and again, the public’s lack of total trust in Starmer and his team was to the fore. They talked a good talk, undoubtedly did Labour, but underneath these mere words, could they really be trusted?
That was the intention, to keep the drive for votes on what a future Labour government might look like, and not to dwell on the past 14 years. That was the idea, anyway.
With a week to go, despite Sunak’s best endeavours, the polls all point in one direction. They may be wrong – they’ve been so before. But no matter how hard he tries, the Tories are not making inroads. Worse, it’s as if everything is conspiring against him.
From the off, it went wrong, with Sunak announcing the election date in the pouring rain. He could have retreated inside but didn’t. He could have held an umbrella but didn’t.
As it was, the pictures were bad, but the Tory spin doctors did their level best, claiming this was evidence of a determined leader, who knew his own mind, who would not shelter from even the most appalling weather. This was tough, undeterred Rishi, tackling issues head-on.
Missing on D-Day
Then came the D-Day celebrations and his early departure, and calamity. Even the most ardent spinners found that one hard to excuse.
No sooner were they getting through that storm than another swirling cyclone appeared: the entry into the contest of Nigel Farage. Suddenly, previously loyal voters were indicating they would switch to Farage and his Reform party.
Fortunately, Farage made errors, that they were able to turn. Declaring Vladimir Putin was provoked by the West into invading Ukraine invited those moving to Reform to consider what they were doing, to examine the character of the man they were voting for.
Not only that, the Sunak supporters were able to say, a vote away from the Tories for Reform played directly into Labour’s hands, bringing the prospect of a super-majority nearer. This brought them back to firmer, more confident ground, to raising that trust question.
The word from the constituencies was that their tactic had started to make inroads, this twin-pronged attack, on Farage and sowing fear as to what a Labour landslide could really bring.
Controversies remembered
Tories were returning to the fold, pulling back from Farage and anxious to avoid a one-party state.
Then, disaster. The betting scandal erupted and Sunak and his inner circle were left despairing. Nothing could shake-off the image of a group of entitled Tories with privileged access to No 10 attempting to enrich themselves, by behaving in a venal manner that simply would not occur to others.
What was especially galling was that Sunak’s planners had managed to keep the old sore of the Tories equating to the nasty party hidden.
Apart from occasional mentions, little had been said in the public hustings about the coronavirus lockdown parties. Similarly, the accusation of favouring friends with PPE contracts had also not been so prominent.
The treatment of the Post Office workers was bad, but this also took in Ed Davey, the Lib-Dem leader and his time as a coalition minister – it was not hitting the Tories so hard.
One issue they could have done without, Labour’s intention to impose VAT on school fees, was outside their control. By and large, Sunak and his political colleagues steered away from a tax that would affect only a small percentage of the population and one that could already afford to educate children privately.
It was the media, more than Tory politicians, who kept this dispute alive – possibly because newspaper bosses with children and grandchildren to educate, would be caught by the levy.
Nevertheless, it did not play well on doorsteps, protesting about a charge for the wealthiest section of society. Claims that state schools would be harmed and not all privately-educated children necessarily hailed from money, largely fell on deaf ears. There was, though, little Sunak and his team could do about it.
The betting affair was altogether different, immediately bring back memories of the Downing Street get-togethers in defiance of the pandemic rules, Dominic Cummings’ drive to Barnard Castle, and the likes of Matt Hancock’s pub landlord winning lucrative PPE contracts.
Moral compass
What unites them all is the answer to how could they? Because they could.
If the leadership is partying, if the then Prime Minister’s closest adviser is driving when he shouldn’t, if pals can take advantage of a VIP fast-lane to win PPE orders and the only thing that qualifies them is that they are pals, then what hope is there?
Sunak appeared to be cut from another cloth. He was no Boris Johnson, no Liz Truss.
Most of those who had inside information about the election date knew it was wrong to rush to the bookmaker. Some, though, either knew it was reprehensible and did not bother, or they did not even know. In any event, they went ahead and placed bets that were guaranteed to deliver.
It’s the lack of a moral compass that is especially telling, and worrying. These were people, don’t forget, close to the very pinnacle of power. If they did this, what else might they be capable of?
I found myself feeling sorry for Sunak. But then, he chooses the company he keeps.
