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Ministers have been forced to deny suggestions that Rishi Sunak would step down as Conservative leader in the run-up to the general election after he declined to attend a ceremony marking the election of the Normandy House of Representatives.
In a further sign that the Prime Minister’s campaign is going horribly wrong, Mel Stride, the Minister for Work and Pensions, insisted that the party leader would remain in power, despite growing calls from Conservative commentators to suggest he might step down.
Speaking to Sky News, Stride dismissed the idea that Sunak might hand over the Conservative leadership before the general election on July 4.
The minister said Mr Sunak would “absolutely” lead the party into the election.
“There should be no question about anything else,” he told Sky News.
The very fact that Stride is being questioned about his ability to see the party through to the end as leader is astonishing, and shows just how far this misstep has taken this election: never before in modern political history has a party been replaced in the middle of an election campaign.
The comments came after Nigel Farage twice refused to deny comments suggesting Mr Sunak had left the Normandy Senator’s Normandy Senator commemoration early because he was of Indian descent.
The Reform UK leader appeared to suggest on Friday that the prime minister did not understand the significance of the commemorations marking the Normandy landings, claiming that Mr Sunak, who has criticised the prime minister’s decision to step down early, did not understand “the history of our country and frankly our culture”.
Asked for clarification on Sunday morning, Mr Farage did not clarify what he meant, instead referring to the proportion of Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the two world wars.
Asked if he was trying to play up Mr Sunak’s British Asian background, Mr Farage suggested he was making a point about the Prime Minister’s “class” and “privilege”.
The Reform UK leader told BBC1’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I know what your question means – 40 per cent of Britain’s contribution to the First and Second World Wars came from the Commonwealth.
“He’s completely cut off by class and privilege from the sensibilities of ordinary people in this country. I think he made that brilliantly clear when he left Normandy early.”
“And now millions of people who voted Conservative – not Redwallers but traditional Conservative voters – are thinking, ‘Should we continue to support the Conservatives or should we support reform?'”
“And I think that’s going to be a test of this election.”
But despite attempting to defend his previous comments on the issue, Wellbeing Minister Mel Stride claimed Mr Farage had refused to address the accusations directly, and described his previous comments as “deeply disappointing”.
“I think they’re hinting at something. I won’t say any more than that because I don’t want to inflame the matter, but it seems to me that it was an inconsiderate statement,” Stride said.
He added: “I feel very uncomfortable about that. It is a matter of great personal pride for me, as someone who supported the Prime Minister and wanted him to be leader of his party and prime minister, to have sat at the most diverse cabinet table in our country’s history.”
“And I’m incredibly proud that we have a British Asian person at the head of our government.”
Labour’s shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said Mr Farage’s attack on Mr Sunak was a “dog whistle”.
She said: “I think this is a classic Nigel Farage technique – leaning in just enough to make a dog whistle signal and then straightening up and saying something entirely reasonable about the good that Commonwealth soldiers and ethnic minorities had done in the war effort.”
“We all know what Nigel Farage is doing. He has a criminal record and it’s completely unacceptable. He has a history of trying to divide communities and he just wants to do it ostensibly to save face.”