Rishi Sunak's warns potential Reform voters: 'You will get the opposite of what you want'
Anyone who is considering voting for the Reform UK party will get "the precise opposite of what they want", claimed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a plea to voters just 17 days ahead the General Election.
During a campaign visit to a farm in North Devon, the Prime Minister appealed to "frustrated" traditionally Conservative voters who are considering a vote for Reform on July 4.
His message comes amid a surge in support for the Reform UK party, with the latest YouGov poll putting the party one point ahead of the Conservatives.
"I know people are frustrated with the last few years, they’re frustrated with our party, frustrated with me", Sunak said.
"I’m not saying I’ve got everything right but on the issues that really matter to people, whether it comes to securing our borders, to cutting their taxes, to protecting their pensions to getting to net zero in a sensible way then I am the person that can deliver that for everybody", he said.
"And the reason I say that is because I really believe it, and that is the right message because people who are going to vote like that are going to get the exact opposite of what they want.
"That is a point I would make because I meet lots of these people all the time, previous Conservative voters who are very frustrated, saying they’re thinking about voting Reform, they are going to get the precise opposite of what they want."
According to the latest polls, the Conservative Party is facing its worst election result ever - with predictions the party will win just 115 seats, exceeding their worst record to date of 156 seats back in 1906.
The Labour Party is however on course to win more than 450 seats and the biggest majority of any post-war government.
But, despite the polls, the prime minister stood firm in his criticism of the Labour leader.
"If you want border security, Keir Starmer is going to release everyone that we’ve detained, cancel the flights, there’ll be no deterrent and as we’ve read today, and more likely or not is going to do some back-door version of free movement of people with the EU", he said.
During his visit to the North Devon farm, Sunak touted the Conservative manifesto pledge to impose a legally binding food security target in a pitch to farmers which was branded “too little too late” by his Liberal Democrat rivals.
The Lib Dems have pledged to boost the farming budget by £1 billion, while Labour has said it would set a target for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards.
Both the Tories and the Lib Dems are targeting seats in rural communities across the South West, which would usually be considered deep Conservative heartlands amid persistently dismal poll ratings for the ruling party.
Earlier on the visit, Sunak and Lord Cameron struggled to feed sheep as they were shown round a local farm.
“Come on,” the prime minister said as the flock ran to the other side of the pen.
“They don’t want to play ball,” a farmer accompanying Sunak remarked.
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