- author, Joe Pike
- role, Political investigative reporter
Rishi Sunak sat surrounded by television cameras, completely unaware of the painful political storm that was soon to hit him.
Late on Thursday afternoon in London, the prime minister had already committed what would later be seen as a serious political error of judgement – but he and his Downing Street advisers were not yet aware of it.
There seem to have been two errors.
First, just weeks before the general election was called, the decision was made that the Prime Minister could miss most of the commemorations of the Normandy landings on 6 June.
And secondly, they didn’t revisit that decision after the election was held and consider how badly it would look.
A Conservative source told the BBC that no one in the campaign team thought this would be an issue, particularly given that the Prime Minister is due to meet world leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.
Mr Sunak gave an interview to ITV after returning to London on Thursday afternoon, although details of the interview were only confirmed the day before.
This means that the decision to leave Normandy before the international summit was not specifically to give a television interview, but to carry out other work.
There was no sign that the Prime Minister was regretting his travel plans after his interview with ITV’s Paul Brand.
Long-standing security concerns have kept Downing Street closely vigilant about the prime minister’s actions, so much so that the fact that the ITV interview was even taking place was not widely known in Westminster.
The program was pre-recorded for next Wednesday’s show, so any connection to the anniversary of the Normandy landings may not have been apparent.
But there has been an ongoing row between Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer over tax, and the interview marked the first time the Prime Minister has responded to accusations of “lying” on camera.
The response was obviously time-sensitive, as it was coming during an election campaign, so the station decided to use the clip immediately.
At 8.45pm on Thursday, Paul Brand tweeted a video of Mr Sunak’s response to his tax policy.
Within 10 minutes, political reporters had realised the connection between the two events and were asking the Conservative press room when the interview had taken place.
Official Conservative sources were largely silent.
By 10.30pm, the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror newspaper had published its Friday front page story: “PM Abandons D-Day”.
As anger grew among Conservative candidates, the prime minister’s advisers discussed how to respond.
Their conclusion was an immediate apology, and at 7.45am today Rishi Sunak tweeted: “On reflection it was a mistake not to stay in France longer. I apologise.”
Mr Sunak’s supporters have expressed confusion over how this latest election blunder could have come about.
“I am completely astonished by every single decision,” one cabinet minister told me. “Who is in charge?”
Another source familiar with the Downing Street team said of Mr Sunak: “He surrounds himself with yes men and yes women who will not challenge him.”
“They’re all young, and none of them have campaign experience except for Isaac. [Levido]” said the party’s election campaign manager.
Others are more sympathetic to the pace and pressures of a political campaign for a party that’s far behind in the polls: “Someone dropped the ball and they didn’t realize it.”
“They’re dealing with issues on all fronts and they’re in the middle of a stressful election. It’s easy to say now that it was a clear error.”
A senior Conservative figure told the BBC: “This is disastrous – reform will now overtake us. [in opinion polls] And we will collapse.”
Some Conservative candidates are angry, while others seem dejected and resigned.
“We’re in this situation now,” one of the prime minister’s critics told me. “I tried to warn them. [about Mr Sunak]. “
The power of this gaffe lies in its simplicity.
Unlike many political debates, which involve complex procedures and politicians we’ve never heard of, this story is understandable to all voters.
Critics will not only call into question the Prime Minister’s judgement, but also point out that it contradicts his plans to introduce National Service and present the Conservatives as the only party that can be trusted on national security.
And like many of our most painful political mistakes, it was entirely self-inflicted.
