Sunak ‘still fighting’ after Reform overtakes Tories in polls for first time

Rishi Sunak has responded to Reform UK overtaking the Conservative Party in the polls and insisted that he is “still fighting” for every vote.

On Thursday, a YouGov poll suggested that Nigel Farage’s party had overtaken the Conservatives for the first time.

It put Reform UK on 19 per cent and the Tories on 18 per cent.

The Prime Minister said that those voting for Reform were “handing a blank cheque to Labour”, adding: “I’m still fighting very hard for every vote.”

And he pointed out that the Tory and Labour manifestos showed a “massive difference on tax”.

Mr Sunak was asked about the survey while at the G7 summit in Puglia, southern Italy.

He said: “Ultimately, if you’re not going to vote for a Conservative candidate that makes it more likely that Keir Starmer is in No 10.”

The Prime Minister went on: “We are only halfway through this election, so I’m still fighting very hard for every vote.

“And what that poll shows is – the only poll that matters is the one on July 4 – but if that poll was replicated on July 4, it would be handing labour a blank cheque to tax everyone, tax their home their pension their car, their family, and I’ll be fighting very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“And actually, when I’ve been out and about talking to people, they do understand that a vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in No 10.

“So if you want action on lower taxes, lower migration, protected pensions or a sensible approach to net zero you’re only going to get that by voting Conservative.”

Mr Sunak rejected Mr Farage’s claim that the poll shows that a vote for the Tories is now a vote for Labour.

“Ultimately, if you’re not going to vote for a Conservative candidate that makes it more likely that Keir Starmer is in No 10.

“And when people are thinking about the substance of what they want to see from a future government, if you’re someone who wants to see control over borders, you’re going to get that from us.

“You’re not going to get that from Labour, they’re going to cancel the Rwanda scheme, they’re not going to put in place a legal migration cap, if you want a sensible approach to net zero.

“I’ve already announced that, Labour would reverse those reforms and put everyone’s builds up with net zero costs.

“And if you want your pension protected, we’re the only ones offering it triple lock plus, so actually, you know when people sit down especially now this week when everyone can see very clearly the difference in approach from the two parties … will crystallise people’s minds on polling day.”

Asked whether the poll represented an existential threat to the Conservatives, Mr Sunak said: “I think at the end of the day on July 5, one of two people’s going to be Prime Minister – Keir Starmer or me – and this week the most important thing that happened was you saw both major parties manifestos that’s their programme for government if they were elected.

“So now everyone has a very clear sense of what each of us would do and as you saw from our manifesto, as we were discussing yesterday, say what you want about it, but it’s a very clear plan, a detailed set of bold actions.

“That’s how you deliver a more secure future for people and crucially, there’s a massive difference on tax.

“We want to cut your taxes at every stage of your life in work, setting up a business, buying your first home, when you’re retired, you’re a pensioner or if you have a family cutting taxes for everybody.

“The Labour Party consistently can’t tell you which taxes they’re going to put up but they are going to put them up and as we saw yesterday, they’re gonna raise the tax burden to the highest level in this country’s history. And that’s the choice for everyone at the election.”