Rishi Sunak is bad at politics. Who knew?

Everyone is finally noticing that Rishi Sunak is rubbish at politics.

Given the scale of his faux pas in bailing out of D-Day commemorations early to get back on the campaign trail, it is hard not to. As a longstanding member of the ‘Rishi is Rubbish’ club, I find it difficult not to feel the kind of proprietorial irritation that fans of cult rock bands suffer when their heroes become mainstream.

In fairness, this theory of Sunak’s ineptitude – now so validated by evidence it could almost be referred to as ‘the science’ – was first aired not by me but in a New Statesman blog before Sunak even became PM.

Back in February 2022, a Labour source told the Staggers that Keir Starmer’s team considered Sunak was ‘crap at politics’ and thought they would have the measure of him were he to replace Boris Johnson as PM. Labour’s reasoning lay in what it saw as Sunak’s flat-footed response to the cost-of-living crisis as chancellor.