Yes, the prime minister loves a helicopter ride – but for now, he is a driven man

Letting motorists into bus lanes, vetoing 20mph residential speed limits... with his regressive pro-car policies, Rishi Sunak is driving into a cul-de-sac, says Tom Peck

Rishi Sunak, petrolhead (HM Treasury)

In his quiet moments, Rishi Sunak often thinks of the humble motor car and lets out a little smile. He has always loved the British motorist and the world they inhabit.

Often, on one of his many helicopter rides between Downing Street and his Yorkshire home, he will instruct his pilot to fly a little lower so that he might take in the full majesty of the Milton Keynes grid road system. He will watch the freely flowing traffic patiently gliding up and down between the roundabouts, not a traffic light to be seen.

Sometimes he’ll bank left, just for a glimpse at the Preston bypass, where the shoulders were once hardened with gravel, hence the name.