Critics have lashed out over the ‘Rishi recession’ announced this morning – just hours after a mega-poll showed the Tories could be left with just 80 MPs after the election

Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who will unveil his Budget in three weeks (

Image: UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)

By Dave BurkePolitical Correspondent

Today’s announcement that the UK slipped into recession could be the final straw for voters, experts say.

Rishi Sunak already faced a near-impossible struggle to stay in power, with a mega-poll last night predicting Tories could lose three quarters of their seats. The bombshell survey of 18,000 people suggests that the Prime Minister could be left with just 80 MPs after the next election.

And critics have lashed out over the “Rishi recession” after official data revealed the PM had failed to grow the economy as he promised. After the Office for National Statistics figures were published, Naomi Smith, chief Executive of Best for Britain and founder of tactical voting site GetVoting told The Mirror: “As the culmination of under investment, chronic mismanagement and a damaging Brexit deal, it’s painfully clear that this recession is a mess of the Government’s own making.

The Tories’ ill deserved reputation as the party of economic competence has been well and truly destroyed. We can’t wait any longer for change. We need a general election, and our polling shows that voters want it now.”

The recession announcement from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) comes just three weeks before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers his Budget. It comes alongside a sharp living standards fall.

James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said that the rising population shields the dire state of the economy. He said there’s been no growth since early 2022, with an average loss of £1,500 per person.

He warned: “The big picture is that Britain remains a stagnation nation, and that there are precious few signs of a recovery that will get the economy out of it.”

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