Rishi Sunak often appears at election rallies without Cabinet Ministers because he is more focused on talking to ‘real people’ than Labour, sources close to the PM insist
Rishi Sunak has appeared at election rallies without ministers because he is more focused than Labor on talking to ‘real people’, sources close to him claim.
The Prime Minister has often cut a lonely figure during the campaign, amid the conspicuous absence of Tory ‘big beasts’ at his side.
Both Labor and the Conservatives officially launched their rival campaign battle buses on Saturday.
But while sir Keir Starmer was accompanied by deputy leader Angela Rayner And Rachel Reevesthe shadow chancellor, no one from Mr Sunak’s cabinet was with him when he unveiled the Tory battle bus in Redcar.
The only Cabinet members Sunak has joined the campaign with since calling the election almost two weeks ago were David TC Davies in Wales, Chris Heaton-Harris in Northern Ireland And Mel Stride in Devon.
No one from Sunak’s cabinet was with him when he unveiled the Tory battle bus in Redcar
Rishi Sunak speaks alone to journalists at Redcar Racecourse as he launches the party’s campaign bus on June 1
Sir Keir Starmer was accompanied by deputy leader Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor
Cabinet bigwigs such as Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, business secretary Kemi Badenoch and Defense Secretary Grant Shapps were noticeably absent.
Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has been on holiday in Italy, while Foreign Secretary Michael Gove has faded into the background after announcing he is stepping down.
No ten sources said it was not a ‘conscious’ decision and that Sunak would be joined by more Cabinet ministers later in the campaign.
One said: ‘It just happened that way. Later people will join him.
“We’ve been speaking a lot more on the ground to voters, to real people, while Labor has been speaking at events to its own councilors and staff.
‘That’s what it’s about. They are not fixed events.
“It’s that he wants to talk to people and convey a personal message.”
Rishi Sunak and David TC Davies arrive at a brewery in South Wales on May 23
The Prime Minister will be in Belfast with Chris Heaton-Harris on May 24
Mel Stride and Rishi Sunak laugh together in a pub in Exeter on May 29
The Prime Minister is more focused than Labor on talking to ‘real people’, sources close to him emphasize
Rishi Sunak looks at cakes at Burrs Country Park in Bury on May 31
The Prime Minister feeds a lamb as he visits a farm in Macclesfield on May 31
But Sunak sparked anger among some of his cabinet and MPs by calling a surprise snap election rather than waiting until the autumn.
It has led to speculation that some in his party are less willing to work with him.
Sir Charles Walker, the outgoing Tory MP for Broxbourne, said: ‘Maybe this is exactly the campaign they want to run: maybe they want it to be the young Rishi with a lot of fight in him against the later middle-aged man. I don’t know, but maybe that’s what they actually want to do.’
