Sunak feeling backlash over his decision to leave D-Day events early 'very personally,' ally says

Can Nigel Farage really replace the Tories? Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe reports

A Cabinet minister has acknowledged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is feeling the backlash over his decision to leave D-Day events in Normandy early “very personally”.

But Mel Stride, one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies, insisted all is not yet lost for the Tories as he quashed speculation Sunak could quit before the July 4 election.

There is “no question” Mr Sunak will lead the Conservatives into polling day, he said.

In a sign of the febrile atmosphere, rumours about the Prime Minister’s future spread after he decided to campaign without media on Sunday following accusations of “dodging” reporters’ questions on Saturday.

Former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, a fierce critic of Mr Sunak, suggested in a late-night social media post on Saturday there were “rumours around tonight that Sunak’s about to fall on his sword”.

But Mr Stride said Mr Sunak will “absolutely” lead the party into the election.

“There should be no question of anything other than that,” he said.

He also denied that “all is lost” for the party, despite an average 20-point poll deficit to Labour.

He said Mr Sunak “deeply regrets” his decision to leave D-Day 80th anniversary events in Normandy early.

Mr Stride said Mr Sunak is “deeply patriotic” and committed to supporting veterans.

He added: “The Prime Minister has accepted that he made a mistake. He has apologised unequivocally for that.

“I think he will be feeling this personally, very deeply, because he’s a deeply patriotic person. He will be deeply uncomfortable with what has happened."

On Saturday, Sunak was out in Yorkshire and the North East hoping to get people talking about his new pledge to cut stamp duty for first time buyers.

He cancelled a planned media event, with the Tories citing time constraints on his tour of County Durham and North Yorkshire on Saturday.

Instead, Sunak met volunteers away from public view at a walled garden in Bishop Auckland, before attending a village fete in Great Ayton, a village in his Richmond constituency.

Meanwhile Labour sought to reassure voters with a cast-iron pledge in the manifesto not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT for five years.

Sir Keir Starmer told reporters in Essex: “We will not be raising taxes on working people. That means we won’t be raising income tax, national insurance or VAT.

“We will launch our manifesto very soon and that will have no tax surprises in it because all of our plans are fully funded and fully costed and none of them require tax rises over and above the ones that we’ve already announced.”

The party also promised to deliver 14,000 more prison places as it blamed Conservative inaction for the prison estate bursting at the seams.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know