By Sascha O'Sullivan
A year in office, a year to the next election, that was the message from Rishi Sunak’s promo video released this morning, which only those who can read at warp speed will be able to comprehend.
While it was the Prime Minister’s anniversary, it was Keir Starmer celebrating. The Labour benches had a moment of jubilant celebration as they welcomed not one but two new MPs to their ranks after by-elections last week.
Even Sunak was able to concede a Labour MP in Mid Bedfordshire might be more amenable than the previous representative – the Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries, who now frequents the Daily Mail, writing about the “big dials” at Google HQ.
Starmer had another reason to celebrate: the Sunak government’s decision to delay outlawing no fault evictions – also known as Section 21 orders – provided him with ample fodder to ramp up his reputation as a leader standing up for housing.
At Labour Conference earlier the month, the opposition leader even won plaudits from the right-wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute for his plans for the country.
For Sunak, faced with split factions on his own benches between younger Conservatives and their home-owning elders, his plans to enable people to access cheaper mortgages fell on flat ears. After all, what’s the point in a mortgage if there are still too few homes to buy?
But Starmer’s entire pitch at PMQs, starting with the comments made by the Conservative Candidate for Tamworth, who suggested those struggling to feed their kids should “f*** off”, built up to a crescendo as he matched Sunak’s view on a year in office with a demand for a general election.
“Will he just call a general election and give the British public the chance to respond as they did in Selby, Mid Beds and Tamworth? They have heard the Government telling them to ‘eff off’ and they want the chance to return the compliment.”
With his party so far ahead in the polls, Starmer seems to be spinning a yarn that this is a prime minister who won’t let the country decide for themselves who they want to have in Downing Street. But Sunak, determined to keep hammering away at his five pledges, shows little signs of giving in.
