Sunak's D-Day absence: how the PM walked into an election blunder

Rishi Sunak was seated with TV cameras surrounding him, completely unaware of the upcoming difficult political situation that awaited him.

In London, on a Thursday afternoon, the leader of the country had made a significant misjudgment in their political decision making. However, they and their team at Number 10 had not yet realized this mistake.

It appears that there were two mistakes made.

Initially, a choice was made several weeks ago - prior to the announcement of the general election - permitting the prime minister to skip a significant portion of the remembrance activities for the D-Day anniversary on June 6th.

Secondly, it is important to avoid reconsidering that decision after the election has been announced, due to concerns about how it may appear.

A member from the Conservative party informed the BBC that the campaign leaders failed to recognize that it could become an issue, especially with the upcoming G7 summit taking place in Italy next week where the Prime Minister is set to meet with the same world leaders.

On Thursday afternoon, after arriving back in London, Mr Sunak participated in an interview with ITV. However, I was informed that the specifics of the meeting were only confirmed the previous day.

I am aware that an interview was requested by ITV for a later date, however, they were informed that Thursday was the sole availability provided by Downing Street.

This implies that the choice to depart from Normandy prior to the gathering of global heads was not solely for the purpose of conducting a televised interview, but rather to attend to other tasks.

As ITV's Paul Brand finished the interview, the prime minister didn't show any indication of remorse regarding his travel arrangements.

Number 10 is always very careful about the prime minister's movements because of their ongoing security concerns. As a result, many people in Westminster weren't aware that there was going to be an ITV interview.

The connection to the D-Day anniversary might have remained unknown if not for the fact that it was being recorded ahead of time for a show that airs next week.

The Prime Minister's response to accusations of dishonesty was captured on camera during an interview, which was previously delayed due to an argument between Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer regarding tax policies.

The response given was evidently related to a specific time period during an ongoing political race, and the media outlet chose to broadcast the video without delay.

On Thursday at 8:45pm, Paul Brand posted a tweet that contained a video of Mr. Sunak's response regarding tax policies.

Political reporters quickly connected the two occurrences and inquired with the Conservative press office about the timing of the interview in under 10 minutes.

There was very little communication from the Conservative party's official representatives.

At 10:30 in the evening, the Daily Mirror, which supports the Labour party, published its front page for Friday with the headline "PM abandons D-Day".

As the rage among Tory contenders increased, assistants to the head of government discussed what approach to take.

They came to the decision to apologize quickly and Rishi Sunak tweeted his apology at 7:45am today. He stated that he realized it was an error to not have remained in France for a longer period and expressed regret for this.

Many of Mr Sunak's supporters are confused about how he made yet another mistake during his campaign.

"I am completely shocked by the decisions being made, one after the other," shared a member of the cabinet with me. "I'm not sure who is really in charge here."

A different insider who is familiar with the Downing Street group claimed that Mr. Sunak tends to gather around him individuals who always agree with him and don't pose any challenges.

All of them are youthful. Apart from Isaac [Levido], the party's campaign manager, none of them have prior experience in running a campaign.

Some individuals are more understanding of the speed and stress that comes with being part of a political campaign that is significantly trailing in the polls. "Someone made a mistake and failed to notice it."

Amidst a nerve-racking election, they are facing difficulties from every angle. It seems quite simple in retrospect to declare that it was a clear blunder.

A top member of the Conservative party shared their concern with BBC and said that the situation is really bad. They worry that Reform party will gain more popularity in opinion polls and the Conservative party will have a major crisis.

Several Conservative candidates are extremely angry, while some appear depressed and accepting.

One critic of the Prime Minister shared with me that "we are currently in this situation". They also mentioned that they had attempted to caution their colleagues about Mr. Sunak.

The power of this mistake lies in how easy it is to understand.

This particular news story is easily comprehensible for all voters, unlike numerous political disputes that involve intricate processes or obscure political personalities.

Critics are likely to argue that the recent incident raises concerns about the Prime Minister's decision-making abilities. Additionally, they may point out that this contradicts his proposal to implement a national service program and portray the Conservative Party as the sole trustworthy option for safeguarding the nation.

Similar to numerous distressing political mistakes, this particular blunder resulted from their own actions.