British Politics

Analysis: Rishi Sunak’s next six months as PM look harder than the first

He has successfully eaten into the Labour’s poll lead since entering Downing Street – but a real-life electoral test looms next week for the UK Prime Minister, with thousands of local council seats up for grabs across England

Rishi Sunak: Polls show that he has won back a group of voters that typically favour the Conservatives but lost faith in the party during the turmoil of the Truss and Boris Johnson. Picture: Bloomberg

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had two tasks when he entered Downing Street: stabilise the government after Liz Truss’s 49 chaotic days in office and make the Conservative Party competitive at the next general election. Tory strategists worry he’s now in danger of getting stuck between Job 1 and Job 2.

Sunak has successfully eaten into the opposition poll lead – Keir Starmer’s Labour Party was about 27 points ahead when Sunak took power in ...