Rishi Sunak Says He's 'Extremely Sorry' Over Partygate As He Plummets In Polls

Rishi Sunak has said he is “extremely and sincerely sorry” for the hurt he has caused in the partygate scandal. 

The chancellor apologised for his attendance at a Downing Street birthday gathering for Boris Johnson during lockdown.

It comes as a new poll found 40 per cent of Brits now think Sunak is “incompetent” - a 23 point increase from January.

That comes after Sunak was embroiled in a row over his wife's non-domicile status, as well as revelations that he held a US green card during his first 18 months as chancellor.

Sunak, who is on a trip to Washington, said he respected the decision of the Met Police to issue him with a fixed penalty notice (FPN).

However, he said he had never considered resigning over the issue.

“I fully respect the decision that the police have reached,” he told the BBC.

“I paid the FPN notice straightaway and I am extremely and sincerely sorry for the hurt and the anger that this has caused so many people.

“I have always acted, I believe, in good faith in regard to what I said to parliament.”

Asked if he had thought about resigning, Sunak said: “No. I am focused on getting on with the job I have got to do.”

Meanwhile, YouGov today released a fresh poll that found two in five adults think Sunak is incompetent.

40 per cent of voters now say that Sunak is incompetent, up from 17 per cent when the question was asked last January.

The survey of 2,079 adults this month found 58 per cent said the chancellor was untrustworthy - compared to 28 per cent in January 2021.

A similar proportion say the chancellor is competent [38 per cent], but this is a drop from 54 per cent last year. 

Meanwhile, a quarter of 2019 Conservative voters say that Sunak is incompetent.

Almost half of Brits now say Sunak is dislikeable compared to just one in five last year.