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00:00Hello, Rafe Blackburn, National World's Politics Editor here on a very hot summer's evening
00:14in London on the Camp Trappane Trail. I'm in Chelsea just by the River Thames in West
00:18London where I'm about to hear from the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. I'm really interested
00:25to see his demeanour. It's been a tricky few weeks on the Camp Trappane Trail for Sunak.
00:31Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong has. First of all, there was the launch
00:37of the election in the rain. Then there was the huge anger about him leaving the D-Day
00:42commemorations early. And now there's the really shocking scandal about allegations
00:48that several Tory candidates and close Tory aides may have bet on the date of the election.
00:57The Gambling Commission is investigating this to find out if there was insider trading.
01:02So I'm keen to see how the Prime Minister is with just over a week to go in the campaign
01:08as this is bound to start wearing him down. The other interesting thing is obviously we
01:12are here in Chelsea, one of the wealthiest parts of London. And normally this isn't a
01:19place where the Tories spend a huge amount of energy trying to hold on to what has previously
01:25been very safe seats here. However, this time, you know, Rishi Sunak is having to fight for
01:30every seat. And these are ones that Labour probably would never believe they could take.
01:36But they will now be hoping to take the cities of London and Westminster, which is just behind
01:41me down the river a bit, and also Hammersmith and Fulham and other seats in Chelsea. So
01:46very interesting that Rishi Sunak is campaigning here. It's unlike 2019 when Boris Johnson
01:51spent most of his time in the Red Wall. The Tories are having to fight for every seat.
01:56So let's go and see what he has to say.
01:58I understand people's hesitation with giving us their support again. I'm not blind to their
02:05frustrations with me, with our party. The last few years have not been easy for anyone
02:10with COVID, with Ukraine. We have not got everything right. We haven't made as much
02:15progress as we would have liked in some areas. But this election is not a by-election. It
02:21is not a referendum on me or our party. It is a choice about the future of our country
02:27and the government you want to lead for five years. And think about what a Labour government
02:33would mean to you and your family. Well, actually, it's quite hard because you don't actually
02:39know what Keir Starmer stands for. He's changed his mind on every major position that he has
02:47taken. In these uncertain times, you can't have an uncertain person as your prime minister.
02:55It simply doesn't work. And because he has such a past like that, he doesn't deserve
03:00to decide your future.
03:02So that was it, a very short speech from Rishi Sunak, only about five minutes in the hall
03:08just behind me to a few Tory activists and the Tories' local candidate and former chairman
03:14of the Conservative Party, Greg Hands. And I thought Rishi Sunak, he was a bit more unbeat
03:19than I was originally expecting him to be, although he did have a slightly kind of bloodshot
03:23look in his eyes. And now he's really kind of recycling the main tropes of his campaign.
03:30He said again that he understood why people are unhappy with himself and the Conservative
03:35Party, but he said that Labour would put up taxes. He said again that no one knows
03:40what Keir Starmer stands for. He said, Starmer and the Labour Party don't know what a woman
03:46is. That probably got the biggest cheer from the local faithful here. But interestingly
03:51enough, it appears even among Tory activists, they're already looking to the future.
03:55Just next to me, there were several activists discussing who might be the next leader.
04:00And that was just a minute before the prime minister was about to come on stage and tell
04:04them how they need to make sure they win the election. So it does appear as if the Tories,
04:10like a lot of the country, I guess, are already pretty much assuming the result of this election
04:15and looking forward. But Rishi Sunak, he was still, it was a very short speech. He didn't
04:21take any questions, but he is still getting out and about. Like I said earlier, it's interesting
04:26he chose to come here. This is very safe Tory territory usually. And afterwards, Greg Hands
04:33was kind of using the prime minister's visit to try and mobilise as many people he could to come
04:39canvassing. So perhaps, you know, he's worried about holding on to his seat. But that really
04:45shows the scale of the challenge for the Conservatives. And this whole event basically
04:52has just underlined how most people are now expecting a Labour victory.
04:59That's all from me here in West London. You can find all of National World's politics coverage
05:03on the National World website and app. Thank you very much.