This Morning presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley sat down with journalist Camilla Tominey to discuss current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. During their conversation, the ITV hosts agreed that Sunak should not be unfairly targeted for being privately educated, but argued that he had allowed this fact to get to him.
Appearing on the show today, Tominey pointed out that it was important for privately educated people to “own” who they are, rather than pretending to relate to the average voter's life experiences. Sunak has previously faced criticism about his relatability – and Tominey gave her thoughts on why this might be the case.
“Say… Boris Johnson,” Tominey began. “He had a very privileged upbringing and went to Eton and all the rest of it.
“But there was a great deal of dysfunction at the heart of his family life. So you can be very well-educated and have all the money in the world… And actually have problems in your childhood growing up.”
At this point, Shephard interjected to say: “But what Boris got so right and why he was so successful up to a point is that he was just authentic. So no matter where you were voting and no matter what your background was, people trusted him in terms of who he was being and who he was.
Shephard then went on to express what he believed to be Sunak's biggest hurdle.
“The problem I think Rishi Sunak has is that he's so terrified of feeling out of touch or being seen to be out of touch, he can't answer that question,” the presenter argued.
He later added: “When he can't be his authentic self, people aren't going to trust him.”
It comes after Sunak recently faced backlash for leaving D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France early in order to appear in a television interview.
The Prime Minister is looking to secure a new term, unveiling the updated Conservative manifesto yesterday.
He has made headlines by promising to deport 100,000 illegal migrants under the Rwanda plan.
The politician has also announced £17 billion of tax cuts to help workers, pensioners and parents over the next five years.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV and ITVX.