Voters believe Rishi Sunak is “gaslighting them” when he boasts about how well the economy is doing, according to a top pollster.
The prime minister and chancellor Jeremy Hunt have repeatedly insisted the UK’s economic outlook has “turned a corner”.
That’s despite the fact that the UK officially went into recession at the end of last year.
Sunak is expected to get some better news when the latest inflation figures are released tomorrow, with experts tipping another fall.
But on Radio Four’s Today programme this morning, Scarlett Maguire of polling company JL Partners, said the PM is unlikely to enjoy any political benefit from that because, unlike him, most people still feel worse off.
She said: “If anything, things look like they might be getting slightly worse for the Conservatives.
“There is actually a danger for Rishi Sunak, if the economy improves and he’s increasingly getting up on a podium, if he’s doing TV interviews, he’s talking to people and saying ‘the economy’s getting better, you’ve got to stick with us, you’ve got to give us credit’, the public will be even more likely to say get lost.
“One thing he in particular is prone to, and this is where the fact that people see him as out of touch and too rich really to be prime minister is particularly relevant, is there’s a sense sometimes that people feel he’s gaslighting them, telling people to be grateful for an economy that they’re not feeling the benefit of.
“They run the risk of that if they then try and go into an election campaign with a message of a very positive economy if people aren’t actually feeling it yet.”
The comments came amid fresh evidence that the Budget earlier this month, in which the chancellor cut another 2p off National Insurance, has done nothing to boost the Tories’ popularity.
Two more opinion polls yesterday showed support for the party is plummeting, piling fresh pressure on Sunak as he faces plotting from Conservative MPs who want to get rid of him.