The UK Conservative party has taken a hit after Chancellor Rishi Sunak departed early from the D-Day commemorations in Europe. Sunak left to take part in campaigning, cutting short his attendance and the opportunity for photo opportunities at the event in France. Criticism of the Chancellor’s decision was compounded by photographs of former Prime Minister David Cameron and the United States, French and German leaders at the event. Sunak was also criticised for missing a later event at Omaha Beach, where Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer was pictured with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Labour has capitalised on this mistake and pointed out that Sir Keir remained at the event until the end. Sunak’s decision is also notable for its rarity. Apologies and changes of direction in election campaigns are exceptionally rare, so this marks a significant acknowledgement from the Conservative Party that they made a mistake. It is likely that the incident will overshadow their campaign trail today. For the past few days, the key Conservative and Labour players had indicated that the focus would be on the D-Day commemorations. Political campaigning would be put on hold for a couple of days. The Chancellor’s departure has made waves and highlighted the difficulty of keeping political campaigns on track during important commemorative events.
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