As allies insisted he is still in a position to win, Rishi Sunak has positioned himself as the “underdog” in the race to become the next prime minister of UK. At the Tories’ Friday hustings for the party’s top job in Manchester, Sunak was introduced in a brand-new video montage that portrayed the former chancellor as an audacious outsider.
“They say beware the underdog, because an underdog has got nothing to lose. An underdog fights for every inch,” the narrator said in the video.
Over pictures of Sunak napping on a bench and holding an NLAW anti-tank launcher, which he handled during a visit to Belfast this week, it continues, “They work harder, stay longer, and think smarter.”
“Underdogs don’t give up, they’ll do the difficult things, and they never, ever get complacent.”
“I’ll keep fighting for every vote until the final day,” Sunak tweeted with the video, which counts down 100 events in 30 days to reach 16,000 party members on the campaign trail.
The 42-year-old British Indian former minister is seen in the video interacting with voters and taking a quick power nap on a bench while a voiceover commends him for trying to “fight for every inch.”
It happens at a time when the majority of recent polls of Tories casting postal and online ballots in the election, as well as bookmaker odds, strongly point to a Truss victory. Truss is running on a tax-cutting platform to address the economic crisis and the UK’s skyrocketing prices.
As he endorsed Mr. Sunak’s emphasis on reducing inflation, former minister Michael Gove became the most recent senior Tory grandee to caution that her plans were a “holiday from reality.”
More former Cabinet members from Truss’ own party have reportedly expressed “jitters” over the current Foreign Secretary’s plans, according to a report in Sunday’s “Observer.”
The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, has seen a rise in support from the larger British electorate. According to a recent Opinium poll for the “Observer,” Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of Labour, has gained significant support due to his plan to freeze the energy price cap in an effort to aid people who are struggling with high household bills.
When asked who they thought would make the best prime minister two weeks ago, Truss received 29% of the vote overall, while Starmer received 28%. This past weekend, Truss’ score decreased to 23% while Starmer’s score rose to 31%. When given the option between Starmer and Sunak, 29% supported Starmer and 23% Sunak.
According to a survey of 2,001 adults conducted this week, Labour received 39% of the vote to the Conservatives’ 11%.
(With inputs from agencies)
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