A Tory minister has been forced to deny that Rishi Sunak will step down before the general election amid widespread anger at his D-Day snub.
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the prime minister will “absolutely” lead the Conservatives into the election.
“There should be no question of anything other than that,” he told Sky News in an extraordinary moment.
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It came after presenter Trevor Phillips said: “Lots of people will have looked at [his D-Day gaffe] and said this is the time, would it not be a courageous and moral act for him to announced… that he will now step aside to save seats which won’t be if he stays for the next four weeks?”
Mr Stride said: “A mistake has been made and the prime minister has apologised for this. Now I do know Rishi pretty well. In fact, I consider him as something of a friend. And I know that he’s a deeply patriotic person who cares greatly about this country.”
A Normandy veteran and the former head of the Royal Navy were among those who condemned Mr Sunak for leaving D-Day commemorations early to take part in a TV interview.
The prime minister skipped out on the international ceremony attended by other world leaders, including US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings.
Normandy veteran Ken Hay, 98, accused Mr Sunak of letting “the country down”.
And Admiral Lord West of Spithead, the ex-head of the navy, said it was “stupid” and an “own goal” of the Tory leader to miss the major international ceremony.
The gaffe has caused indignation in Tory circles, with general election candidates claiming the PM is giving Labour a free pass.
Even veterans minister Johnny Mercer said the decision to leave the 80th anniversary events early was a “significant mistake”.
And Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said the blunder shows Mr Sunak is “not fit to lead the country”. “He has made the biggest mistake of his political career. If it wasn’t an election campaign, there’d be a leadership challenge against him this week,” he told the BBC.
A government minister being forced to insist the PM will not quit during the election campaign is a sign of the dire state of the Tory campaign.
Mr Sunak has faced repeated gaffes on the campaign trail, from his rain-soaked launch in Downing Street to asking brewery workers in Wales if they were excited for the Euros, which the country has not qualified for.
A new poll has set the party on course for electoral wipeout, with Labour winning a majority of 416. The Tories would be left with just 37 seats, according to the new Deltapoll survey, which puts Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 46 per cent compared to the Conservatives on 21 per cent – with even Rishi Sunak set to lose his Yorkshire seat.
Bookies hinted at a rising chance Mr Sunak quits before the election after his D-Day gaffe, with Ladbrokes putting the odds of him stepping down at 8:1.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “It’s looking like a pretty bleak election is on the cards for the Tories, and while things may be getting worse for Rishi Sunak, we’d be surprised to see him stand down as Tory leader before July 4th.”
