Joe Giddens/PA
Rishi Sunak struggled to keep his cool during a fiery interview with Sam Coates on Sky News.
The prime minister travelled to Derbyshire as the election campaign enters its final week, but he struggled to shake off the recent betting scandal that has dogged the Conservative Party.
Police are examining whether offences beyond cheating using inside information had been committed, while the Gambling Commission said it was making “rapid progress” in its parallel investigation.
So far five Conservatives are known to have been caught up in the Gambling Commission inquiry, including Mr Sunak’s former parliamentary aide, Craig Williams.
The Prime Minister has withdrawn Tory support for Mr Williams in his bid to be returned as MP for the Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr seat, after he admitted having a “flutter” on the election date.
Sunak was also challenged by a worker at the pottery plant who said things had got “infinitely worse” since the Tories took office in 2010.
Frances Cutmore, a potter at Denby Pottery, asked the Prime Minister “why you feel that we should vote for another four years of Tory government when in the last 14 years you haven’t managed to make a good impression on our country”, with food-bank use soaring in that time.
“That’s not acceptable,” the 46-year-old from Belper said.
Mr Sunak replied: “I don’t want anyone to have to use a food bank. Of course I don’t. But I’m also very grateful to all those people who volunteer for them, who support them, so that they are there for those who need (them).”
He added: “There is lots of frustrations that you, and others, will have about some things in the past.”
But “this election is about the future”, Mr Sunak said. “And if you care about financial security for families, that’s what I will deliver, because no-one is going to be helped by their taxes going up.”
Pressed that he should tax “the millionaires and the billionaires”, Mr Sunak said: “Actually, the proportion of tax paid by the richest people in income tax is higher today than it was in 2010 … so that is already happening.
“And I want to keep cutting taxes for everyone who’s working hard.”
Asked what she thought of the Prime Minister’s response to her question, Ms Cutmore told the PA news agency: “I think the Prime Minister is very good at not really answering the questions.”
She added: “The thing that drives me mad about politicians is that they will say everything that they know you want to hear before the election, they get elected and then they don’t do any of it.”
The potter said she “always” voted Labour, and would be doing so at the election, but was not affiliated with the party.
She said she did not “believe in everything that Labour is currently standing for” but claimed it “has the best chance of beating the Conservatives” in the Amber Valley constituency where Mr Sunak was visiting.
The Conservative candidate in the constituency is Nigel Mills, who has held the seat since 2010 and had a majority of 16,886 at the 2019 general election.
Related: Steve Baker to launch Tory leadership bid if party loses and he keeps seat
