Sunak seemed the challenger; Starmer the establishment figure

I watched Tuesday night’s leaders’ election debate with fellow guests at a party to launch Conservative Revolution, a book to mark the 50th anniversary of the Centre for Policy Studies, the thinktank founded by Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher to ‘think the unthinkable’ after Tory defeat. Rishi Sunak’s performance certainly achieved one of its intended effects, which was to summon up the blood of supporters. Oddly, given his amiability, he is impressive in attack. Both leaders conveyed their main true points well: Sir Keir that Mr Sunak dare not talk about his party’s record of 14 years in government, Mr Sunak that Sir Keir dare not talk about what he would do in office. Of the two, Mr Sunak’s is the more powerful, because it is about what happens next. Sir Keir looked suitable prime ministerial material, I thought, but his persistent fault is his moralism. His favourite word about his opponent was ‘shocking’.