30 January 2024 , 12:20
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Rishi Sunak laughed as he was grilled on the timing of the next general election and whether the Tories would win it on ITV's This Morning.
Appearing on the sofa, the PM was quizzed by host Rylan Clark when viewers would next head to the ballot box as polls show the Tories trailing behind Labour. The Tory leader laughed as the presenter asked: "You're a very busy man, running the country. Autumn election - when's it happening, what's going on, are you going to win it?"
Mr Sunak replied: "I've said what I've said, on the timing. We've been very clear - we've been through a tough time over the last year as a country. I really believe - the start of this year - we've turned a corner and we're heading in the right direction. You can see that most obviously with the economy."
Pressed again on when This Morning viewers would be heading to the polls, he said: "Well that I've already said - the working assumption about that." Earlier this month the PM said it was his "working assumption" the next general election would take place in the second half of 2024 - but still has the option of a spring election.
Rishi Sunak on ITV's This Morning sofa (ITV)Asked whether he was feeling "confident", he added: "I am. Absolutely." It came as the latest poll gave Keir Starmer's Labour a 22-point lead and warnings in recent week the Tories face a wipeout defeat on a similar scale to 1997. Just last week one senior Tory MP urged his colleagues to oust the PM to prevent "annihilation" at the next election in a brutal assault on his leadership.
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During the appearance on ITV's This Morning, the PM also insisted the government does not "have a magic money tree" when challenged over striking junior doctors. Speaking from the This Morning sofa, the Prime Minister said "it is disappointing" that junior doctors "said no" to an offer of an "on average 10% pay rise".
He said: "A million other NHS workers have all actually come to a reasonable agreement with the Government. Every other bit of the public sector has come to a reasonable agreement. I think what we've done is fair, it's reasonable, it's been endorsed by an independent body." When it was put to him that resolving the pay dispute would boost his chances in the election, Mr Sunak said: "My job is to do what's right in the country in the long term."