Senior Tory not ruling out party turnaround despite huge Labour lead in the polls

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

A senior Tory has refused to rule out a colossal swing in the polls as Rishi Sunak refused to rule out calling an early election.

The Tories have fallen to over 20 points (21 to 44)  behind Labour in the polls, but senior Tory MP and former Brexit Secretary, David Davis, has refused to rule out a dramatic comeback for the party which has been in power for 13 years.

“We've got to do some recovery, there's no doubt about that, but some of the stuff that Rishi is keen on, like cost of living, will take time to come into sync and the inflation rate is coming down,” Mr Davis told the Standard.

Moving towards the Opposition, Mr Davis claimed the crisis in the Middle East has sparked new political problems which may dent Sir Keir Starmer’s chances in the election.

“Who would have said four weeks ago that Starmer will be having trouble with his party over the Middle East?” he added.

“What's going to happen in the next 12 months is that the public at large are gonna look at Starmer, not as a rather boring leader of the Opposition, which has been a historic sort of view and ask questions.

“They're going to start looking at him through a different lens and asking...Is he good enough to be Prime Minister? What's his judgement like?

“So this is why from a domestic point of view, all the arguments about Palestine and Israel are important because they create real tensions.

"They create pressure, they put more pressure on him in some ways than on us.”

Although the Prime Minister has managed to dent inflation, which currently sits at 4.6 per cent, he was dealt a blow when the Supreme Court said there were "substantial grounds" to believe that some of those deported under the Rwanda migrant plan could be to places where they would be unsafe.

The deal was created in order to help achieve the task of reducing small boat crossings, one of Mr Sunak's five pledges, alongside halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt and cutting NHS waiting lists.

Commenting on the plan, which was championed by the now-sacked former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, Mr Sunak refused to rule out calling a general election if the House of Lords blocks emergency laws to push the Rwanda deal through.

The move came as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt supported the creation of new laws to overrule the Supreme Court’s verdict on Sunday.

“Asked whether emergency legislation can be expected quickly, Mr Hunt said: "That's the plan. We will do it lawfully, and if we need to change the law we will do that."

“You know, so it's, I just think 12 months out is far too far away to predict and certainly not a reason at this point in time to say, 'oh, it's all over' because it's not,” Mr Davis concluded.

“And one of the lessons really for me of being around for a few decades, is that one action can have a ripple effect, which is enormous.”

David Davis was speaking ahead of a new show, The Ayes Have It, which featured at the Edinburgh Fringe but has now been brought to London.

The Ayes Have It, which will include John Bercow, Andrew Marr, and Alex Salmond is at Leicester Square Theatre on November 21.

For more details visit www.leicestersquaretheatre.com.