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Lmore than a week to go. For which everyone – including most politicians – will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Rishi Sunak you must be wondering why on earth he chose to run a six-week campaign when he had so little to say and such a poor record to defend. It’s like he’s already given up and is just moving.
Labor also did not seem so energized that they are clear favorites to win a large majority next Thursday. Their main goal is to do as little as possible. Not rocking the boat and letting the Tory party self-destruct. To be fair, the strategy seems to be working so far, but it’s made the last few weeks feel particularly lackluster. Keir Starmer, knowing he will inherit a mess, is so desperate not to raise expectations too high that his words often sound like: “Vote for me. Things will be a little less rubbish.”
Even Ed Davey seems to have been affected by the numbness. His campaign theme park stunts increasingly look like he’s going through the motions. The only person who is clearly having fun is Nigel Farage. He addressed rallies of 1,000 people in Newton Abbot and Houghton-le-Spring and one poll suggested Reform could win 18 seats. How much Nige will enjoy being leader of a small party in the House of Commons, where his vote will not count for much, is another matter. It may rather limit his well-paid media engagements in the UK and US. Unless, of course, he rarely bothers to show up.
Pre-election moment of the week
Not just the moment of the week, but a clear winner as the highlight of the entire campaign. The Labor candidate was campaigning in his Hull East constituency and knocked on the door. A man answered. Turner asked if he would vote Labour. No, said the boy. May I ask why not? Carl asked. Sure. Because you’re going to tax condoms. I couldn’t vote for any party that taxed condoms. Apparently a guy who gets a decent number every week. Turner looked confused. As far as he could remember, that wasn’t something Keir Starmer had promised. Although he had only promised to rule out increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT. Eventually, Turner’s assistant, who was out with him, put two and two together. Maybe he was getting confused with the non-homes. Oh, said the man. You mean like the prime minister’s wife? Exactly. One Labor voter must be coming back into the fold.
Bet of the week
A more astute political party leader would have tried to nip this in the bud immediately by removing the two Tory candidates who are under investigation for insider trading. Instead, Rishi Sunak let the story play out before taking action two weeks later. By then it was too late. There are times when Rish! it only makes sense if you accept that he is actively trying to lose the election. On Thursday he was asked several times by Sky News reporter Sam Coates if he had told Craig Williams in advance of the election date. Pretty straightforward question you would think. One that can be answered with yes or no. Instead, Sunak was humming and laughing. It would not be appropriate to comment, he said. Ongoing investigation and all. Bullshit. Talk about trying to make yourself look guilty. But the gambling scandal has now moved from insider trading to perfectly legal – if actively half-witted – betting. Keir Starmer removed the whip from a Labor candidate who made a small bet to lose. Not to be outdone, Tory candidate Philip Davies is also reported to have bet £8,000 to lose. Be big, Phil. Go big.
TV debate moment of the week
An easy one. That was when presenter Mishal Hussain announced that our time was up and that the BBC’s head-to-head fight between Sunak and Starmer was over. Whereupon a grateful nation could finally sit back and go back to watching the Euro. We had many variations on the debates. Direct clashes with the two main parties. Seven-way debates. A series of one-on-one interviews followed by questions from the audience. We even had a debate with Chris Philp. Never again. And in all these debates we have never learned so much from any creature. Just who was the slickest performer. Sunak was annoying, liked to shout at people and patronized the audience. Starmer was a little bold and slow in his response. But nothing that would really move the dial. Everyone had too much media training to let that happen. The distributors loved them as they were the main beneficiaries. It made them feel important. But for most of the country, they were a detour. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. The latest BBC debate this week was no exception. Just Sunak and Starmer yelling at each other without saying much. Although Keir got the best line. “If you bothered to listen to people,” he told Sunak, “then you wouldn’t be so indifferent.” Boom.
Mel Stride award
That’s the gong that goes to the Tory minister who has volunteered to go over the top and into the oncoming fire of the morning media circuit to explain why everything is going so terribly well. And the winner is again… Mel Stride. Once again the Work and Pensions Secretary proved to be the only cabinet minister regularly willing to take one for the team. One can only assume that Sunak had promised him a feather in his resignation honors list. If so, he fully deserved it. No man has suffered more humiliation. But the question remains. Where are all the other cabinet ministers? James Cleverley and Victoria Atkins have put their heads over the railing exactly twice. Which probably puts them in line for knighthood and ladyship respectively. But Jeremy Hunt? He is still nowhere to be seen. I cannot recall a previous election campaign in which the incumbent chancellor did not appear in the media at all. It’s almost as if he’s ashamed of his record. Lord Big Dave had his own agenda. Only to come out at times like D-Day when he can make Sunak look bad. Think about this. The worse his successors look at No.10, the more forgiving the country is towards him. I have news for you, Dave. We are not forgetting austerity and Brexit. Meanwhile, others like Steve Barkley and Lucy Fraser may not even exist. For Monday’s Sun debate, the Tories sent Chris Heaton-Harris to spin for them. And he didn’t even apply. “Hello, beautiful people,” Chris said as he entered. This is a person who has already left.
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Racist order of the week
Madness. Nigel Farage likes to present himself as a changed character these days. A man much maligned. His previous comments, apparently in support of Vladimir Putin, were misunderstood. His dislike of foreigners – as recently as Thursday he again accused migrants of blocking all roads in the southeast – is actually about wanting a better life for them. As long as it’s somewhere else. Nige insists that Nige is now a fully healthy character. So it must be a constant surprise to him that several reform candidates have had to be rejected for making racist remarks and this week an undercover Channel 4 investigation found that one of those campaigning for Farage in Clacton had made openly racist and Islamophobic comments.
Cheat of the week
You may recall that when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, his first speech was a promise to govern with integrity, professionalism and accountability. That went well. He was at it again during the BBC debate on Wednesday. Asked why anyone should believe a word he said, Rish! insisted that he could be trusted because he always told the truth. He had even warned the country about Liz Truss, even though he had given her his full support. So what needs to happen within minutes of the debate ending. The Tory press office pretended to be an independent personal finance organisation, Tax Check UK, to X and sent out a slew of tweets giving alarming figures for bogus Labor policies. They were quickly rattled and soon their tweets came with a health warning. But that hasn’t stopped them. This Friday morning I received two emails purporting to be from Tax Check UK talking about a rise in employment tax. So much for integrity, accountability and professionalism. When your back is against the wall, everything is allowed.
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