G20: Rishi Sunak dismisses Conservative defeatism and says team 'hungry' to win general election

Rishi Sunak has dismissed suggestions of defeatism in Conservative ranks by insisting he and his team are “fired up” and “hungry” to win the next election in a new-look Downing Street

The Prime Minister also urged voters to give him his “first full term”, which could take him to 2029 in No.10, if he wins the next election.

But it comes after Mr Sunak struggled to re-set the dire narrative engulfing the Government, with the Tories stuck 20 points behind Labour.

Mr Sunak admitted the Government had been forced to act on concrete in schools at a “frustrating” time at the start of the parliamentary term.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty meet local schoolchildren at the British Council during an official visit ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

It comes after reports his No.10 chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith was forced to tell Whitehall special advisers they were not welcome in the Government if they did not believe the party could win the next election and as many Tory MPs predict almost-certain defeat.

Mr Sunak, however, dismissed suggestions that he was on his way out of No.10 come what may, insisting there was “plenty of time” until the next election, suggesting he could opt for autumn rather than spring 2024 before calling a national poll.

He also insisted the narrow Tory victory in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election showed the party could beat Labour “when voters were confronted with an actual choice ... on an issue of substance”.

Mr Sunak also argued he was turning the Government’s fortunes around by beginning to bring down inflation, the number of Channel crossings, as well as presiding over more positive news on energy bills and the economy’s recovery from Covid.

Asked on the plane to New Delhi for the G20 summit for his message to those who think he is already heading for defeat, Mr Sunak said: “That should give people confidence that all the things we have done and are doing are right and are going to make a big difference to them.

“That’s what the autumn will be about, that’s what you’ll see from me, building on the foundations of the last eight months, continuing to make decisions that are in the right long-term interests of the country, that put our country in a direction heading to a better place, that’s going to improve people’s lives.

“That’s what I want to do. I want to put our country on a trajectory that they can see their lives improving and I’m confident we can deliver that.

“We’ve got plenty of time between now and the next election, I’m not complacent, there’s lots of work to do, but I’m entirely confident we can deliver for people.

“And I can tell you – certainly in Downing Street, we are fired up.”

Mr Sunak also stressed he now feels he has a team that is “hungry” to win, following the departure of former communications director Amber De Botton and the addition of former Matt Hancock aide Jamie Njoku-Goodwin as the new director of strategy.

“As you can see we’ve brought some new people in, some of you will know them, these are very high-quality people that are joining the team because they believe that we will win – they are hungry to win, I am hungry to win, and they are fired up to deliver it,” he said.