When he walked out of Downing Street in the pouring rain to call the General Election, Rishi Sunak was gambling that he could take chunks out of Keir Starmer’s poll lead during the six-week campaign.
But one week in there is no sign that he has made any progress at all. Our weekly poll shows Labour has a 20 points lead – exactly the same as a fortnight ago. Mr Starmer has the support of 44% of voters with the Tories trailing on 24%.
Conservative Party HQ will be alarmed if they look into the detail of our survey findings. A fifth of people who voted for them in 2019 now say they will support Labour. Only 33% of Tory voters think Mr Sunak is running a successful campaign, compared to 64% of Labour voters who say that about Mr Starmer.
The person who will be most delighted though will be Rachel Reeves. The Shadow Chancellor has taken flak from some in the party for her tight grip on the purse strings.
But after years of not being trusted by voters with the country’s finances, Labour is now seen as the party making pledges that are fully costed.
After going for broke, perhaps the PM should get that soggy suit dry cleaned, ready for a humiliating exit from No10.