In a year of tough interviews, perhaps the most unusual one the Prime Minister has encountered thus far was today’s shock appearance on ITV’s Loose Women. Instead of finding himself vis-à-vis with the usual lobby culprits, Rishi Sunak was instead surrounded by the show’s formidable panel of Kaye Adams, Judi Love, Janet Street-Porter and Jane Moore.
Quizzed by the seasoned presenters, Sunak was pelted with questions about his own experience of sex education (of which he said little), his parenting style and his upbringing. After the government announced its plans to reform sex ed in schools, Sunak told today’s audience that he couldn’t quite remember when or what he was taught growing up before admitting it was only through his work as PM that he got a better handle on his kids’ social media use. ‘Judge me by my actions!’ the North Yorkshire MP told the panel, making regular references to the pandemic furlough scheme when quizzed on his attitudes to poverty. And, after fending off accusations that he’s a PM who ‘hates’ pensioners, Sunak received applause when he told the crowd that he believed people who had worked hard all their lives deserved ‘dignity’ in retirement.
Just before the interview wound up, the conversation turned to the rather large elephant in the room: the general election. Love told Sunak in no uncertain terms that it better not derail her holiday, before Moore dared to broach the possibility the PM might not win. Would he stay on as a MP if he lost the next election? ‘Yes, of course I’m staying,’ vowed Sunak, ‘I love being an MP, I love my constituents, I love my home in North Yorkshire, it’s wonderful.’ Sunak still didn’t quite manage to drop an election date — although he reassured Love it would ‘good for your holidays’, whatever that reveals…
So for all Labour’s talk about getting ‘Sunak out’, it seems that regardless of election result, parliament shouldn’t prepare to see the back of the MP quite yet. It’s a promise to remember in the event of a Tory defeat — given even Sunak’s own colleagues seem convinced he’d be straight on a plane to LA…
Comments