It took No 10 until the end of the day to condemn his words as "racist and wrong"; Rishi Sunak didn't comment until prime minister's questions the next day.
It was not the only difficult moment for Sunak in what was one of the most troubled weeks since he become prime minister, and which followed a budget that failed to deliver any shift in the polls.
The former Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson defected to Reform, angering the right of the party, who felt he should not have been stripped of the whip, and the rest, who believed it was a mistake for Sunak to have given him the role.
The anxiety among MPs about their electoral prospects with Sunak at the helm has led to another bout of leadership speculation.
"This is the weakest Rishi's been, and the most danger he's been in," said one former minister.
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の March 22, 2024 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian Weekly の March 22, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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