Why is Sunak proud of his defensive campaign?

Rishi Sunak isn’t lacking in energy as he goes into his final few days of election campaigning. He is, though, using that energy in some quite futile ways. He spent much of his interview with Laura Kuenssberg this morning arguing with the way she phrased questions and getting irritated that he wasn’t being given enough time to explain himself on key policy areas. That tetchy impatience – something Sunak never recognises in himself – has long been one of his visible flaws. 

It isn’t necessarily the kind of visible flaw that puts voters off a prime minister. The problem for Sunak was not whether he had eaten enough breakfast and was a bit too hangry, but what he could offer up to voters as evidence that backing the Conservatives on Thursday is a good idea. He was questioned at length on his government’s record over the past 14 years, and after Kuenssberg listed problems with unlicensed services, taxation and living standards, he replied:

I just don’t accept that.