A Cabinet minister insists all is not lost for the Tories as he dismisses speculation Rishi Sunak could quit before the July 4 election.
Mel Stride, one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies, said there is “no question” Mr Sunak will lead the Conservatives into polling day, following speculation he could quit in the wake of the D-Day debacle.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Stride acknowledged the Prime Minister is feeling the backlash over his decision to leave events in Normandy early “very personally”.
In a sign of the febrile atmosphere, rumours about the Prime Minister’s future spread after he decided to campaign without media on Sunday following accusations of “dodging” reporters’ questions on Saturday.
Former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, a fierce critic of Mr Sunak, suggested in a late-night social media post on Saturday there were “rumours around tonight that Sunak’s about to fall on his sword”.
But Mr Stride told Sky News Mr Sunak will “absolutely” lead the party into the election.
“There should be no question of anything other than that,” he said.
He also denied that “all is lost” for the party, despite an average 20-point poll deficit to Labour.
He said “taxes are coming down” and “we can continue that journey because of our stewardship of the economy and the fact we have got a plan”.
The alternative for voters, he said, is to “go to Labour, who have got no plan, who simply are going to this ‘Ming vase strategy’ where they’ve got a poll lead, they don’t want to say anything, tell you anything, no plan, no ideas, anything about the future”.
The Work and Pensions Secretary told Sky News that Labour hopes to “drift across the line almost without anybody noticing”.
He told Sky’s Sir Trevor Phillips: “To your point about whether ‘all is lost’, we have four weeks, that’s a long time in politics.”
He said Mr Sunak “deeply regrets” his decision to leave D-Day 80th anniversary events in Normandy early.
Mr Stride said Mr Sunak is “deeply patriotic” and committed to supporting veterans.
He added: “The Prime Minister has accepted that he made a mistake. He has apologised unequivocally for that.
“I think he will be feeling this personally, very deeply, because he’s a deeply patriotic person. He will be deeply uncomfortable with what has happened.”
