Question Time audience laugh at Tory for claiming Rishi Sunak doing 'good job'

26 January 2024 , 07:45

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Question Time audience laugh at Tory for claiming Rishi Sunak doing 'good job'

The Question Time audience descended into laughter when a hapless Tory minister tried to claim Rishi Sunak was doing "an incredibly good job".

Alex Burghart pleaded with BBC viewers to "hear me out" as he tried to defend the Prime Minister after ex-minister Sir Simon Clarke warned Tories they would be "massacred" at the election if they don't ditch him as leader. Mr Burghart said the pair were friends but "he's wrong and he's made a mistake".

“I think the truth is that Rishi Sunak has been doing an incredibly good job in very, very difficult circumstances," he said. As the audience erupted into laughter, the Cabinet Office Minister said: “Hear me out.”

But presenter Fiona Bruce said to him: “Why do you think people are laughing?” The Tory replied: “I’m just going to finish what I’m saying. This has been one of the most challenging parliaments in any of our lifetimes. We’ve had the biggest health crisis in 100 years, we’ve had the first war in Europe since 1945, the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s, the highest inflation since the 1980s and it’s been tough. It has been tough.

“And do you know what? The [International Monetary Fund] says that the UK is going to grow faster than Japan, faster than Germany, faster than France, faster than Italy. Our economy is recovering, and one of the main reasons for that is Rishi Sunak.” He added: “I think he has done a really good job in difficult circumstances, and I think when it gets to the election, when it’s about people having to decide who’s got a plan for the next five years, they’ll choose Rishi Sunak over Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, who quite frankly have no plan for the country at all.”

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His rant was met with silence from the audience, and the presenter told him the message was clearly "not cutting through". Labour's Jon Ashworth appeared astonished by his rant, adding: "The British public deserve better than this division and infighting, this circular firing squad, this shambolic approach that we see from the Conservative Party. "After 14 years, what we've seen this week is the clearest reminder that people want change. It's time for change, it's time to turn the page on this mess."

Lizzy Buchan