LONDON: Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hunkered down Tuesday as he prepared to go head-to-head with Labour opposition leader Keir Starmer in the first TV debate of the UK general polls campaign on the back foot.
The development comes with Sunak under intense pressure to reset the Tories’ faltering campaign after the release of two polls Monday indicating they face defeat in a historic landslide on July 4.
The embattled Sunak faces the perilous prospect of the right-wing vote splitting between the Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform party, following the Brexit figurehead U-turned Monday and announced he will contest as a candidate.
Farage’s announcement grabbed headlines and he was set to formally launch his campaign in the seaside resort of Clacton, east of London. His arrival into the fray also diverted attention away from the hour-long debate between Starmer and Sunak, which is due to start at 2000 GMT.
Sunak will spend the entire day off the campaign trail preparing for the clash, with his performance seen as critical to his party’s fortunes — and the threat posed by Farage.
The Daily Mail called the current situation “Rishi’s darkest hour”, while daily Mirror said he was facing an “election crisis”.
Sunak had announced the election on May 22, calling it six months earlier than required and making an unpromising start in a widely-mocked rain-sodden speech outside 10 Downing Street. Labour party has enjoyed double-digit poll leads for eighteen months and that has held solid nearly two weeks into the drive, with Britons appearing weary of the Conservatives following 14 years in power.
A YouGov survey Monday that correctly predicted the 2017 and 2019 general polls — showed Labour on track to win around 422 of the 650 seats in country’s parliament.
Sunak has made a series of headline-grabbing pledges in the campaign’s early days in a bid to appease right-wingers who want him to be tougher on law and order and immigration.
Starmer has been playing it much safer, seeking to reassure voters that Labour will responsibly marshal the country’s economy and defence.
