Rishi Sunak: Up Close review – you can almost see the shame on his face

ITV’s deputy political editor, Anushka Asthana, with Rishi Sunak. Photograph: ITV

Should Rishi Sunak be prime minister? Opinion polls currently say no. Watching Rishi Sunak Up Close – Tonight, the second of two election-year specials about the main party leaders, you wonder if Sunak himself might secretly agree.

Behind-the-scenes insights, gleaned by ITV deputy political editor Anushka Asthana via weeks of exclusive access, aim to reveal what kind of man the Conservative party leader is. The message he hopes to transmit is that he is a “thoroughly decent, highly intelligent problem-solver”; a sentiment helpfully voiced by his ally, energy secretary Claire Coutinho, while a good-natured family breakfast at 10 Downing Street paints a picture of a high-achieving but affectionate working father. We’re told that at weekends, the red berries and M&S yoghurt are replaced by a full English cooked by Dad.