If you think that material wellbeing (i.e. perceptions of financial security) tend to have a significant impact on voting intentions, then #RishSunak may have seen a small glimmer of hope in the trend in #consumer confidence.

As #inflation has dropped so consumer confidence has risen, turning (on balance) positive for the first time in two years.

Whether this is enough to save the #Tories s another issue altogether; #voters have so many other concerns with the wreckage the Tories have wrought

Here's Richard Tice of the right-wing Reform Party:

'We’ve had all the promises. All the waffle, all the warm words & they’ve completely and utterly betrayed us. The truth is that the Conservatives have broken Britain'.

The good news is that Reform is looking to attack the #Tories from the (further) right & potentially split the extreme Right vote.... the bad news is this will likely draw #RishSunak even further towards the Right extreme.

In this case our enemies' enemy is NOT our friend!

Sunak at PMQs today: the cost of living crisis is "the number one challenge for countries up and down the family".

I wonder if he is rattled by the tone of the SC Rwanda judgement?

Safe to say Ian Dunt is not impressed with Sunak's latest 'clever wheeze' which doubtless came out of the mind of a chinless 21 year old SPAD:

"The prime minister's Network North document might genuinely be in the top ten most half-arsed embarrassing policy documents we've seen from a British government in our lifetime. That’s a highly competitive market to muscle your way into and yet somehow by God he's done it."

https://iandunt.substack.com/p/sunaks-stitch-up

Economic activity is down as #inflation drives down sales volumes, the BoE's #interestrate policy is explicitly aimed at 'damping down' the economy & real wages continue to stagnate/fall....

So you wont be surprised to know that a #recession now looks likely for the Autumn.

Cue: #JeremyHunt & #RishSunak telling us that 'if its not hurting its not working'... & the 'price is worth paying' to defeat inflation.

But, as always its not them or their mates hurting or paying the (acceptable?) price

Ben Jennings on the last four #artificialintelligence driven #primeministers - great pun on #RishSunak's claim about UK leadership in #AI