This is the awkward moment a Tory staffer tactically blocked a sneering woman who made it clear she was unimpressed during Rishi Sunak’s speech in Exeter.
As the Prime Minister addressed employees at defence vehicle manufacturer Supacat in Honiton, Devon, the young woman was caught by the cameras making faces and rolling her eyes.
Mr Sunak said: ‘It’s been difficult for the last few years. You know that, I know that.’
Reacting to this, the woman grimaces and chuckles before turning to look at the people standing next to her.
When the Prime Minister suggests that his government provided support with energy bills, the woman did not even try to hide her true feelings, furrowing her brows in confusion and watching on with wry amusement.
As Mr Sunak’s speech came to a close, a Tory staffer checks his phone before awkwardly shuffling into the crowd and blocking the sassy onlooker from view of the cameras.
The man then begins to nod along in a desperate effort to enhance the Prime Minister’s optics.
The sneering woman looks away from Rishi Sunak as the Tory staffer appears (right)
The woman (right) grimaces as the Prime Minister delivers a speech in Exeter
Rishi Sunak hosts a question and answer session at Supacat in Honiton, Devon
During a whistle stop tour of Cornwall and Devon, Mr Sunak found himself clambering into the seat of an armoured vehicle, the Jackel 3, at the Supacat factory.
The Prime Minister then met with a group of people who had taken over community ownership of a village pub in Drewsteignton in central Devon.
He sat at a long table with the pub’s committee and drank a pint of lemonade from a traditional beer mug as he was joined by Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary and Conservative MP for Central Devon.
In the corner of the small pub room, two French tourists watched the scene with bemusement.
Survation and Redfield & Wilton Strategies both found that Labour is 23 points ahead overall.
A survey by Deltapoll of 1,517 British adults online, carried out from May 23-25, put Labour on 45 per cent.
The latest poll by Opinium, carried out on May 23 and 24 among 2,050 UK adults online, put Labour on 41 per cent and the Conservatives 27 per cent.
The Prime Minister climbs into a Jackel 3 in Exeter on May 29
Rishi Sunak sits in an armoured vehicle during a campaign event in Exeter
Rishi Sunak swigged lemonade from a beer tankard today as he took his election tour to Devon
The PM, a teetotaller, was visiting the Drewe Arms near Exeter, which has been taken into community ownership
Rishi Sunak and Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride laugh at the pub
But the JL Partners research, conducted Friday and Saturday, put Labour on 40 per cent, while the Tories were on 28 per cent – up two points since the start of May.
Labour’s lead has slipped from 18 points in April and 15 points in early May.
The pollster said the main reason was a shift among over-65s, with the Conservatives going from a 10-point lead over Labour to a 20-point lead in the age group.
