Sunak's plea to Reform voters may be too little, too late.

 Afternoon!

Source - Daily Telegraph - 10/04/24

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Rishi Sunak has issued a fresh plea to Reform voters, but is it too little, too late?

Sunak: Vote Reform and get Starmer

The Prime Minister did not have the best start to this morning’s phone-in on LBC. Introduced to a caller named Louise in the Rhondda Valley, Sunak cheerily exclaimed “hi, Rhonda!” before correcting himself: “Oh sorry, Louise, missed that, hi.”

Thankfully for Downing Street, Sunak’s message to those planning to back Reform at the election later this year was significantly clearer.

On the line to a man intending to abandon the Tories for Richard Tice’s party, he said: “If you vote for Reform, all you are going to do is put Keir Starmer in power, and then we are going to get no action on those things that you care about.”

PM is right to worry about Reform

It is little wonder Sunak is worried about Reform and trying to stem the tide of lifelong Conservatives joining a growing revolt on the Right. Leave voters are now more likely to vote Reform than Tory, small boat crossings this year are currently at a record level and millions do not believe promises to “take back control” of migration have been kept.

Claire Coutinho, the Energy Secretary, led a Conservative backlash against the European Court of Human Rights in a climate change row yesterday, perhaps a foretaste of things to come in the months leading up to the election.

But unless Sunak and his Government can deliver tangible progress on the Rwanda plan, Channel crossings and net migration in those precious few months, there is every chance the ranks of Reform voters — and those who simply decide to stay at home – will only continue to swell.

Is Rishi Sunak right about Reform? Let me know your thoughts by emailing politicsnl@telegraph.co.uk.