Rishi Sunak recruits David Cameron for rural charm offensive in Devon

Rishi Sunak has recruited Lord Cameron for a charm offensive in Devon, in a bid to shore up support among rural voters in what should be 'safe' Tory territory.

The prime minister took his general election campaign to Devon on Tuesday 18 June, arriving in the county's safest Conservative seat.

He first met with fishermen in Clovelly - an area that has been held by the Tories since 2005 with a majority of almost 25,000.

It's stark to see the prime minister fighting for votes in an area that should be considered safe for his party, but it comes as the Liberal Democrats feel increasingly confident about their chances in large parts of the West Country.

David Cameron tells farmers in Barnstaple he is "fighting for every vote in every seat"

Sir Ed Davey's party has extended its list of targets in the region, with a focus now on previously more ambitious seats like North Devon, South Devon, Torbay and West Dorset.

The PM was later flanked by his foreign secretary at a Q and A session with farmers in Barnstaple, another area of Lib Dem interest.

The former prime minister, David Cameron, described Mr Sunak as "a huge friend of Britain's farmers".

After walking out onto the stage to what Mr Cameron described as a "warm North Devon welcome", Mr Sunak told farmers: "I will always have your back".

It's a charm offensive by Rishi Sunak and David Cameron.

This week the Conservative campaign is noticeably focusing on rural voters, with repeated attacks on the offerings of the other political parties.

Mr Cameron said: "You'll see a huge contrast. Our manifesto, I think, is one of the fullest and most complete about our farming, our agriculture, our countryside, our rural communities, than I've ever seen a Conservative Party introduce.

"Yet from Labour, we've just got 87 words on farming. That is it."

The foreign secretary went onto tell farmers it's "so important" they vote Conservative.

"The Liberal Democrats, they won't hold Labour to account, they're not a force to confront them, they're simply an echo of them, they will make them worse," he added.

As part of their offering to farmers, the Conservatives are pledging to increase the annual agricultural budget by £1bn over the course of one Parliament.

They are also pledging to introduce a legally binding food security target and ensure at least 50% of food spend in the public sector is on food produced locally or to a higher environmental production standard.

The Liberal Democrats have said they will introduce a National Food Strategy to ensure food security and tackle rising food prices, pump an extra £1bn a year into the new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELM), and give British farmers the opportunity to trade with European neighbours with "minimal need for checks".

Labour's manifesto says it will "cut through Tory bureaucracy” that has blocked farmers from funding, and continue with the ELM scheme.

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