Rishi Sunak pays to upgrade electricity grid for heated pool at North Yorkshire home

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid to upgrade the electricity grid in his North Yorkshire constituency to power his new heated swimming pool.

It is understood the prime minister has built a 40ft swimming pool in the grounds of his home, as well as a gym and tennis court.

It was first reported by the Guardian that engineers had to install a connection to the National Grid running across open fields to provide enough power to heat the pool.

Mr Sunak, who was granted planning permission for the work in 2021, will pay for the cost of the upgrade, as well as the cost of energy consumption.

A spokesperson for the prime minister declined to comment on the works.

What have people in Northallerton been saying?

ITV corespondent Gregg Easteal was in Northallerton, which is part of Mr Sunak's Richmondshire constituency, to ask people what they thought of the story.

This is what they had to say.

One woman said: "I'm not impressed. He lives in a different world. He's not in our league."

One man said he was "absolutely not" happy about the situation. He said: "It's not very good at all. He's got more money than sense I think, that fella."

But another woman had more sympathy. She said: "I think I'm with him if it's what he wants to do. He's spending his own money. He's not spending ours."

Another woman added: "I think it's his money and it's entirely up to him what he does with it."

Chris Porter, of Community Leisure UK, said: "The leisure sector feels that swimming and leisure should be for everybody in the community, not just the wealthiest. And at the moment we are having to look at what works, what doesn't work, what's the most profitable part of our programme.

"And ultimately that's going to have an impact on price increases, and maybe impacting on schools and school swimming lessons and user groups. It's a really, really challenging time for us."

Rachel Maskell, the Labour MP for York, said: "Morally, you have to question what this man is about because when the people he is responsible for are struggling to pay their energy bills, and not putting their heating on - going cold and putting extra jumpers on, and he has the luxury of this swimming pool - he's so out of touch.

"He just cannot relate to the realities of people's lives and of course, we expect our prime minister to stand in the shoes of our constituents and to be on their side. How can he with such an exuberant lifestyle?"

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