Rishi Sunak spent a moment talking to an actual ordinary person and it’s quite the watch
Rishi Sunak hasn’t fired the starting gun on a general election just yet – the way he’s going he’ll probably be pointing it at his head when he does.
But we got a glimpse of the PM’s extraordinary electioneering skills today when he – gasp! – ventured out to meet an actual ordinary person.
And we’re guessing he probably won’t be doing it again any time soon, after this former health worker challenged him on the state of the NHS, captured by an off-duty Sky News camera operator.
And it’s quite the watch.
Exclusive footage of Rishi Sunak challenged this morning by a former health worker on the state of the NHS, – captured by an off duty @skynews camera operator pic.twitter.com/aN8QKTjnH4
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) January 19, 2024
To be fair to all concerned, that wasn’t actually the end of the exchange – you can see the full clip below.
Prime Minister @RishiSunak challenged by former NHS worker about long waiting times in the health service
The encounter happened during a visit to Winchester pic.twitter.com/6mkCI4fimD
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) January 19, 2024
But even if it wasn’t quite as bad as all that – opinion was divided exactly how bad it actually was – we’re still going to need a psychologist to help us work out what it was she said that made Sunak burst out laughing.
Here’s what people were making of it today.
1.
He’s got £700m and could have easily continued a lucrative career in finance. But he gave all that up so that he could get out there and laugh into the faces of the British public before walking away. https://t.co/7DpNW6AGbG
— Fergus Craig (@FergusCraig) January 19, 2024
2.
Oh my god how he is so bad at this. This campaign is going to be excruciating. https://t.co/jYugDaiOsg
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) January 19, 2024
3.
key moment is about 23 seconds in as Sunak laughs when asked why the NHS can’t go back to its glory days https://t.co/JrR97LUwGn
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) January 19, 2024
4.
Jesus Christ he’s barely human. What is wrong with these Tories? https://t.co/AVHmUndEWs
— Brendan May (@bmay) January 19, 2024
5.
This is a terrible look for the PM. The lady asks him why we can’t go back to how the NHS used to be and he just laughs at her! https://t.co/Sn6DeMrGnR
— Suzy Quiquero (@suzyquiquero) January 19, 2024
6.
What the fuck is he laughing at, the absolute ghoul? https://t.co/rvG1mMdac7
— Malcolm V Tucker ☠️ (@Tucker5law) January 19, 2024
7.
You see, what Rishi Sunak is really good at is engaging with real voters on the campaign trail… https://t.co/PmBRBAg6ve
— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) January 19, 2024
8.
It’s over for Sunak. He knows it, his party knows it and the public knows it. https://t.co/X0k6YIYKeR
— Julia Suzanne (@juliasuzanne76) January 19, 2024
9.
“Actually, I think I’d like to go back to square one.”
“Yep.” *walks off to California* https://t.co/YuzBOHG5PV— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) January 19, 2024
We’re with LBC’s @lewis_goodall.
The full clip isn’t as bad as the shorter one (though still painfully awkward). It does remind us though what has long been clear, Sunak is likely to struggle with the unpredictability of the campaign and being out of the bunker.
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) January 19, 2024
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Source @tamcohen