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Rishi Sunak suffered a series of setbacks on the first full day of the general election campaign, as he was forced to concede he could not deliver flagship policies on asylum and smoking before polling day on July 4.
The prime minister admitted on Thursday that deportations of asylum seekers to Rwanda — a policy first proposed by the Tories more than two years ago — would not happen unless he secures an unlikely election victory.
“The election is about the future,” Sunak said. “If I’m elected I’m going to get those flights off.” Asked by the BBC if flights carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda would begin after the election, Sunak replied: “Yes.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has committed to stop Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, meaning it is possible that not a single asylum seeker will ever be deported to the African nation. The UK has already paid Rwanda £220mn in relation to the scheme.
Labour believes Sunak will try to spring a surprise by authorising a flight to Rwanda in the run-up to polling day.
Meanwhile, Sunak’s decision to call a snap election has meant that legislation to phase out smoking is not expected to reach the statute book before parliament is suspended on Friday.
When he announced the election, he pledged that the Conservatives would “ensure that the next generation grows up smoke-free”.
But his plan to stop all people born on or after January 1 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes is now likely to become a Tory election manifesto pledge instead.
House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt told MPs that only a handful of bills were likely to reach the statute book before parliament is prorogued, including legislation to compensate those affected by the infected blood scandal and a measure to exonerate sub-postmasters in the Post Office scandal.
Significant legislation to fall by the wayside includes a sprawling criminal justice bill, plus a measure to end “no fault” evictions of tenants by landlords in England.
Martyn’s law, a piece of legislation drawn up after the Manchester Arena bombing that would require UK event venues and councils to draft preventive plans to mitigate against terror attacks, was also not on Mordaunt’s list.
It was an awkward first day on the campaign trail for Sunak, with some Tory MPs lamenting his decision to call an early election — as well as the way it was announced during a rainstorm in Downing Street on Wednesday.
One minister despaired that the Conservatives were ill-prepared, saying: “We haven’t got our campaign lines properly set. Other than the economy, what is our message?”
The MP predicted the Tories were on track to lose half their seats, adding it was “Charge of the Light Brigade stuff”.
As Starmer started his election tour on Thursday at Gillingham football club in Kent — promising to end the Tory “chaos” of the last 14 years — the latest YouGov poll data revealed that Labour were outrunning the Conservatives by 25 percentage points.
Sunak came under fire after it emerged that two people wearing high-vis jackets who asked him questions during a warehouse visit in Derbyshire on Thursday were in fact Tory councillors. Neither of the individuals worked at the warehouse in question.
But there was brighter news for Sunak with the announcement by Nigel Farage, the high-profile founder of Reform UK and leading Brexiter, that he would not be fighting a seat at the election or playing a big role in the campaign.
In comments that appeared to partly vindicate Sunak’s decision to call an early poll, Farage told the BBC: “The problem is, six weeks is such a short period of time to fight a parliamentary constituency and promote the cause around the country. And, you know, I think Rishi Sunak has wrongfooted an awful lot of people, myself included.”
Farage said he would “do his bit” for Reform UK but would focus on campaigning with grassroots groups ahead of November’s US presidential election between Donald Trump and incumbent Joe Biden, a contest he said had “global significance”.
Reform UK launched its election campaign in London, with leader Richard Tice, who replaced Farage in 2021, confirming the party would field candidates in all constituencies in Great Britain.
Additional reporting by Joshua Oliver