RISHI Sunak has vowed to fight on as Tory leader and would lead the party “until the last day of this campaign” as chaos engulfed the Conservatives.
The Prime Minister hit back at speculation he could quit as party leader, saying he would not stop “fighting for the future of our country” as he attempted to draw a line under the controversy about him leaving early from D-Day commemorations in Normandy last week.
And he insisted the election was not a “foregone conclusion” as he hit back at those who would “write me off”.
Speaking on the campaign trail in West Sussex, Sunak (below) said: “They’ve been saying that, by the way, ever since I’ve got this job, right? Not since this election campaign.”
He added: “The reality is I’m not going to stop going, I’m not going to stop fighting for people’s votes, I’m not going to stop fighting for the future of our country.
“I believe in what we are doing deeply. I think our country is at an important moment, we’re at a crossroads, and that’s why I called this election because, having restored economic stability, this is the moment to really think about how we can deliver a more secure future for everyone.”
But he is faced with a battle after a difficult week for the Conservatives triggered by him skipping the world leaders’ event at the D-Day commemorations.
He returned to London to sign off the Tory manifesto, the Sunday Times reported, and then to attend an interview with ITV.
Sunak’s insistence comes as Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross (above) announced he would quit that job after the election. He also said he would step down as an MSP if he won a seat in Westminster.
Ross found himself at the centre of a scandal last week after it emerged that David Duguid had been blocked from standing for re-election allowing Ross the opportunity to contest the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.
Duguid was hospitalised at the time with a serious spinal injury and Ross was accused of a stitch up.
He is also facing questions about his parliamentary expenses with members of his team seeming to turn on him to brief the press about trips charged to the taxpayer that they claimed were linked with his work as a linesman.
Elsewhere, a car crash interview with Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden has added to Tory woes.
Holden (above) sought to dodge questions about how he landed a plum Conservative constituency during a tetchy TV interview.
Holden, until recently the MP for North West Durham, was the sole candidate presented on what was expected to be a shortlist of three names for the Basildon and Billericay seat, angering some local members.
He ignored questions about his candidacy during a pooled television interview, which he used instead to attack Labour’s schools policy, until Sky News’ Jon Craig stopped him, saying it was “ridiculous”.
The journalist was challenged off-camera by an adviser who claimed the subject of the interview was not meant to cover Holden’s position, an assertion Craig disputed.
