Sunak unwilling to let supporting cast take centre stage

It is 29 November 2019. In a studio in Cardiff, the BBC’s Nick Robinson stands before seven politicians each from different parties. While the smaller parties are each represented by their leader, both Labour and the Tories have opted to mix things up.

In Jeremy Corbyn’s absence, his trusted colleague Rebecca Long-Bailey has stepped up.

For the Tories, it is Rishi Sunak – then the chief secretary to the Treasury – filling in for Boris Johnson. That night, Sunak made a name for himself as “one to watch” – though few would have predicted then that he would be leading the party into the next election.

But his presence also shows the importance in a campaign of having a team of media performers who can be relied on. Sunak was picked not because of his seniority – there were plenty of higher ranked ministers they could have asked. Instead, they decided he was the best communicator for the voters they wanted to reach. This week, the Tory election strategist Isaac Levido told the Cabinet that the election campaign would be presidential. That led to some internal sniping – with ministers complaining that Sunak’s approval ratings were not high enough for such a strategy to work.

It comes after Sunak suffered the embarrassment early this week of having the contents of a message from Johnny Mercer made public. It accused No 10 of trying to “placate” Sunak by over-promoting him over the likes of more popular colleagues like Kemi Badenoch and

Penny Mordaunt.

Tory strategists do want as many head-to-head debates as possible on the grounds they believe their strongest attack is to paint Starmer as a man with no beliefs or principles in contrast to Sunak. But they also know they need back-up. Names already touted among Sunak’s inner circle as key communicators include the Energy Secretary, Claire Coutinho (inset), the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, and even Mercer – the MP for Plymouth

Moor View who wrote the poison pen letter.

Coutinho, 38, has long been a rising star under Sunak – serving as his special adviser and then once she became MP for East Surrey, as his parliamentary private secretary.

She had a fast-track promotion to the Cabinet last year from a junior ministerial role to Energy Secretary and has slowly but surely increased her media profile. “Claire is smart and comes across as reasonable,” says one party figure.

Then there is Trott, 39, who is viewed as key player for her ability to tell a positive story about the economy. “Laura is down to earth and her brief is very important for us,” says a colleague.

What Trott and Coutinho have in their favour is relative youth – both were elected in 2019 so help to suggest that the Conservative Party has some life in it yet. A potentially more controversial pick is Mercer,

42, after his note to the Prime Minister found its way into the papers on Wednesday.

Mercer refused to apologise over it – instead taking to social media to say “shoot me now or grow up” over the unauthorised snap of his laptop. But this no-nonsense style is exactly why those in Downing Street like Mercer so much.

Then there is the ever-reliable Stride. The Work and Pensions Secretary has been a regular sight in television studios recent weeks.

When No 10 was braced for a potential coup against the Prime Minister in the wake of the local election results, it was Stride who was sent to sit in the BBC’s Politics Live studio for hours and field the difficult questions.

And what about those – such as Mordaunt, Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat –who tend to sit at the top of the Conservative Home blog’s Cabinet league table?

The official No 10 line is that all ministers will be given air time. But as Mercer’s note suggested, there is concern that Mordaunt and Badenoch are not put out enough. “The worry is that they are keeping them off the airwaves because they don’t want the story to be about Rishi’s successors,” says a minister. “We cannot afford for these concerns. Look at the polls. Frankly, we need all the help we can get.”

Katy Balls is the political editor at ‘The Spectator’ magazine