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Louise Thomas
Editor
Rishi Sunak has revealed the worst moment of his time as prime minister, just two days before voters go to the polls and deliver an expected wipeout for the Conservatives.
The PM was asked for the highs and lows of his time in office in what could be one of his last broadcast interviews in charge of the country.
Talking to the BBC’s Breakfast about his worst moment in the job, Mr Sunak said it was his failure to cut NHS waiting lists.
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Waiting lists stood at around 7.2m when he became prime minister in October 2022 and now stand at around 7.5m, according to official figures.
Mr Sunak said: “This is a difficult job, of course it’s a difficult job and when I can’t make as much progress as I would like on the things that matter to me and the country, of course that is disappointing.
“As we talked about, on the NHS waiting lists for example, particularly coming from an NHS family as I do… that has been disappointing not to be able to make more progress on NHS waiting lists in spite of the record funding we are putting in.”
And, asked about his best moments as prime minister, Mr Sunak said it was the opportunity to meet people “who have faced some tragedy and in spite of that go out and campaign for positive change”.
The PM did not offer an example of who he was referring to, but said he has done so “many times in this job”.
He said: “I always find that incredible because I think if something like that had happened to me, you think ‘gosh… how would you deal with it’, but these people not just deal with it but are able to get out there, talk about it and campaign for positive change for others.”
The best and worst moments came after Mr Sunak was read a quote from Britain’s top polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice, who said: “There is more chance of lightning striking twice in the same place, and a bit more, than Rishi Sunak remaining as prime minister.”
“Do you accept that?” Mr Sunak was asked.
The prime minister said: “That is his view. That is not going to stop me from working as hard as I can over these final few days to talk to as many people as possible.”
The interview came as Mr Sunak launched a last-ditch 48-hour blitz around the country appealing to voters to help him “stop a Labour supermajority”.
The Conservatives are currently 21 points behind Labour in the polls, with numerous forecasts putting Mr Sunak on course for one of the worst election losses in history.
