Sinead Butler
May 26, 2024
ITV News
Rishi Sunak has once again suffered a blunder on the campaign trail after being asked whether he is captaining a "sinking ship" during a visit to Northern Ireland's Titanic Quarter.
As part of the prime minister's whistle-stop tour of the UK, Sunak visited Artemis Technologies, a local company which manufactures zero-emissions maritime technology with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris on Friday (May 24).
Despite the boat photo ops for the PM, it couldn't distract from the news that a record number of Tory MPs standing down ahead of the general election with the total number so far reaching 76, and breaking the 1997 record of 75 MPs quitting in 1997.
This point was soon put to Sunak by Belfast Live reporter, James McCarthy who referenced the Titanic - the famous ship that sank back in 1912 that was designed and built nearby - in a question to the PM about his election prospects, given he is currently 26 points behind Labour in the polls.
"Are you captaining a sinking ship going into this election?" the reporter asked.
To which an irked Sunak replied: "If you look at what's happened over the past few weeks, you can see our plan is working."
As you can imagine, the comparisons of the same vein quickly emerged online in reaction to Sunak's Titanic Quarter visit.
It's not the first gaffe of the general election campaign for Sunak after he got drenched when he announced the summer election outside Downing Street earlier this week, causing an influx of memes online.
He also made another blunder during a visit to a brewery in South Wales where he asked staff members if they were looking forward to the Euros this summer - except, Wales didn't qualify for the upcoming football tournament.
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