Rishi Sunak suffers bruising debate poll blow after Tory minister warns of Labour ‘supermajority’

A string of gaffes, rogue MPs and a television appearance to forget left Rishi Sunak’s campaign seemingly lost with three weeks to go

The Tories appeared to raise the white flag on their election hopes yesterday as defence secretary Grant Shapps urged voters not to give Labour “a supermajority”.

Sir Keir Starmer will today unveil Labour’s manifesto, pitching himself in Tory territory, promising “wealth creation” to rescue a flatlining economy.

The move by Labour to occupy the centre ground of British politics followed another appalling 24 hours for Mr Sunak.

The prime minister was humiliated after last night’s Sky debate with a YouGov snap poll giving Sir Keir victory by 64 per cent to 36 per cent. The prime minister had been booed and laughed at during a bruising 45-minute session with Sky’s Beth Rigby and a studio audience in Grimsby.

Hours earlier, it emerged that the Gambling Commission was carrying out inquiries into a bet on the election date, placed by his closest parliamentary aide, Craig Williams before the announcement.

During the Sky interview, a cowed Mr Sunak even felt unable to use his main attack line against Starmer and Labour, the controversial and disputed claim that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 for each household.

Meanwhile, in the manifesto to be unveiled today the Labour leader will say his government would be "pro-business and pro-worker” as he seeks to woo disaffected Tory voters with pledges designed to rescue the UK’s flatlining economy.

Growing the economy at the same rate as the last Labour administration would mean an extra £70bn for public services, Sir Keir said.

In a direct appeal to voters, he said the party’s manifesto “represents a total change in direction, that is laser-focused on our cause”.

He would lead “a government back in the service of you and your family”, he added.

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On a dreadful Wednesday for the Tories:

• Official figures showed the economy flatlined in April, undermining the party’s key message that the country has “turned a corner”
• Labour said the Tories had “completely blown up” the PM’s flagship national service plan after Mr Shapps said they it would involve just 25 days in the military
• Mr Sunak was ridiculed for claiming his family had had to go without Sky TV when he was a child
• He came under fire for saying the D-Day commemorations last week “ran over”
• Polling experts warned him it was now or never to change the fortunes of his moribund campaign, with the first postal votes set to be cast within days

Rishi Sunak was forced to admit he has not given up on the general election after Grant Shapps warned of a Labour ‘supermajority’ (Getty)

In an extraordinary moment, Mr Shapps appealed to voters to ensure that after the election “there’s a proper system of accountability” adding: “You don’t want to have somebody receive a supermajority.”

His apparent admission of defeat came after a torrid week in which Mr Sunak had to deny he would quit before election day after snubbing part of the event for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

New figures showed no growth in the economy in April, according to the Office for National Statistics, in a blow to the prime minister’s hopes of recovery.

To add to Mr Sunak’s woes it emerged a Tory MP, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has used a picture of the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on her election leaflets, despite his party standing against her.

And former Tory minister Nadine Dorries said it was “over” for the Conservatives and told Times Radio she was not “even sure why candidates are bothering to go out and deliver leaflets”. 

Asked about Mr Shapps’s comments, the prime minister said he had “absolutely not” lost hope of winning the election.

He warned against giving Sir Keir a “blank cheque” if he won power, but stressed that he was still hopeful of victory.

Grant Shapps said it would be ‘very bad news’ for the country if Sir Keir won a ‘supermajority’ (PA Wire)

Asked whether the shift in messaging signalled the Tories conceding defeat, Mr Sunak said: “No absolutely not. What you saw yesterday is we’ve put a manifesto forward which has got a very clear set of tax cuts for the country, tax cuts at every stage of your life... And I’m really energised to now have a chance to put a very clear plan to the country and talk about all the things I want to do.”

Sir Keir insisted Labour was not complacent about victory but urged voters to give him the mandate to deliver change.

He said: “We know that we have to earn every vote.

“Not a single vote has been cast and I know that every day we have to make a positive case for change.”

Keir Starmer is set to launch Labour’s manifesto on Thursday (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The Conservatives have also released Facebook adverts suggesting the party could come third behind the Liberal Democrats.

One post being promoted by the Conservatives has a graph depicting Labour winning 490 seats, the Lib Dems winning 61 and the Tories holding just 57.

On the economy, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Rishi Sunak claims we have turned a corner, but the economy has stalled and there is no growth.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney said: “The Conservatives have utterly failed to deliver the growth they repeatedly promised, instead presiding over stagnation and economic misery for hardworking families across the country.”

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the figures showed the economy “grew by 0.7 per cent in the three months to April”.

“There is more to do, but the economy is turning a corner and inflation is back down to normal,” he said.