Exclusive: Lee Cain says Tories are stuck in 'doom loop' after Sunak ‘plays bad hand badly’
Boris Johnson’s former aide says the Tories are stuck in a doom loop and it’s partly Rishi Sunak’s fault, but he'll still vote for them.
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In Brief…
- Lee Cain takes aim at Rishi Sunak and his campaign for apparent failings.
- The former spin doctor resigned from Boris Johnson’s government but still backs the Tories
- The comms expert warns Keir Starmer will not have an easy ride if he becomes Prime Minister.
It may seem like an age ago , but Boris Johnson’s government was sent whirling into a frenzy when his spin doctor resigned in 2020.
Lee Cain quit at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic after three and a half years in the role.
Now, the ex-communications director for Number 10 Downing Street has lifted the lid on his thoughts about the Conservative Party in an exclusive interview with The News Agents.
What does he think of Sunak?
When asked by Emily Maitlis whether the current prime minister was dealt a bad hand, Cain replied: “Rishi did get dealt a bad hand, that is undoubtedly true.”
He noted that the “second part of Boris’ tenure was pretty disastrous for a variety of reasons”, and matters were made worse by Liz Truss’ disastrous mini budget.
But while it was not an easy role to step into, Cain claims Sunak has still “played a bad hand badly.”
He said: “He fundamentally did all the wrong things. This is a failing which we’ve seen from multiple Conservative prime ministers.
“This assessment that there is not anything too wrong with the state, not a lot that needs fixing and we can tick along as we are.”
This can be seen in the things Sunak has done and prioritised, Cain says.
He adds: “They are way out of kilter with public opinion. Or he lifted the salience of issues he wasn’t going to fix because the policies he was enacting were totally nonsensical.
“With Rwanda for example you were raising the salience of boarder controls and immigration and small boats but you were never going to get off the ground, literally and figuratively.”
And that’s why were are seeing almost “existential” polling numbers as 4 July approaches, he adds.
What does Cain make of the Tories’ 2024 general election campaign?
The Tories are now stuck in a “doom loop”, the comms expert told The News Agents.
That’s because they “will be looking at the research, everynight they will be reviewing the focus groups, looking at the polling and they will see they’re not making any traction.
He adds that this “facilitates further decline and I think that is kind of where they are.”
It is still enough to convince him to cast his ballot for the party, although “not with great enthusiasm”.
Does he think a Labour Government under Keir Starmer will last?
If the Labour party doesn’t deliver over the next five years, then Cain thinks Starmer could be in trouble.
“Very quickly, much like we are seeing in Europe, people are going to be looking to see what the alternatives are”, he adds.
That is despite the majority Starmer is predicted to win on polling day.
Cain adds: “Once you are in Number 10 [Downing Street], it is an incredibly challenging place to be.”