Rishi Sunak’s team is promoting a new campaign video, cashing in on their “underdog” status with rival Liz Truss’s firm lead in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. It comes two weeks before the end of the UK Conservative Party leadership election.
Videos show the former chancellor attending a series of campaign events since the start of the race last month and addressing Tory members who are voting for a new party leader. The video first introduced Sunak at an event in Manchester.
“I will fight for every vote till the last day,” Sunak tweeted along with the video.
The 42-year-old former British Indian minister interacted with voters and was also seen taking a quick power nap as voiceover praises his efforts to “fight for every inch”.
“They say beware a Dalit because a Dalit has nothing to lose. A Dalit fights for every inch,” the voiceover says.
“They work hard, live longer, think smarter; underdogs don’t give up, they will work harder and they never get complacent,” it adds.
The video comes as most of the latest surveys indicate a strong win For Liz Truss who is campaigning on a tax-cutting plan to fight the economic crisis amid record inflation in Britain. Tory members cast ballots by mail and online.
Liz Truss’s plans were recently called a “vacation from reality” by former minister Michael Gove, who had recently become a senior Tory member. Support Rishi Sunak’s focus on ending inflation
According to a report in the Observer on Sunday, some of Truss’s own party and former cabinet members have expressed “panic” about his current plans.
“The members are going with Liz one way, the country at large, the other,” an unnamed former minister told the newspaper, expressing concern about Truss becoming prime minister.
“If she goes through with the whole culture wars and anti-content, as well as the economic stuff, she’ll come across as Boris without the charm. Then she’ll lock people up in the blue wall,” said another , referring to the seats in northern England won by the Tories from Labor in the 2019 general election.
Meanwhile, the opposition Labor Party is also seeing a rise in popularity among British voters. Sir Keir Starmer, a senior member of the Labor Party, promoted a strong turnout according to an opinion poll by the Observer.
The boost comes from their policy of stabilizing energy price caps, aimed at helping those struggling with exorbitant household bills.
Two weeks ago, 29% of all voters said Truss would be the best prime minister, while 28% said Starmer would be better. Truss’s score has dropped to 23% this weekend, while Starmer’s score has risen to 31%.
When asked to choose between Starmer and Sunak, 29% chose Starmer and 23% chose Sunak. According to a recent poll of 2,001 adults, Labor received 39% of the vote, while the Conservatives received 31% of the vote.
On Saturday, a YouGov poll for ‘The Times’ found Starmer’s party with the biggest lead in ten years—43% which is 15 points ahead of the Conservatives at 28%.
With inputs from PTI.
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