Rishi Sunak in new swipe at London just days after Sadiq Khan's big win over Susan Hall

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer

Rishi Sunak took a swipe at London just days after Sadiq Khan stormed to victory against Susan Hall to win a third term in City Hall.

He attacked Sir Keir Starmer as a “virtue-signalling lawyer from North London”.

The Prime Minister, who is MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, also claimed the Labour leader must have been surprised to visit the area, and discover that “he could not take the Tube there”.

Sir Keir went to nearby North Allerton on Friday to celebrate his party’s candidate David Skaith being elected as Mayor of North Yorkshire.

Mr Sunak and the Labour leader clashed on Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions in increasingly personal attacks just days after Ms Hall was heavily defeated by Mr Khan in the contest for Mayor of London.

Political experts say the Conservatives appear to have abandoned their electoral hopes for the capital, with polls suggesting that they could end up with no MPs in Inner London and fewer in Outer London.

For the mayoral race, they picked Ms Hall, a pro-Trump Brexiteer to be their candidate.

Ministers have taken frequent swipes at London as they seek to appeal to voters in the former “Red Wall” in the North and Midlands.

At PMQs, Sir Keir mocked Mr Sunak after the Tories lost nearly 500 councillors in the May 2 local elections, the West Midlands mayoralty and the Blackpool South by-election, with Tory MPs Dan Poulter and Natalie Elphicke having defecting to Labour.

The Labour leader said: “In addition to losing two Tory MPs , the Prime Minister has been on the receiving end of some of the biggest by-election swings in history.

“He has also lost 1,500 Tory councillors, half of his party’s mayors and a leadership election to a lettuce.

“How many more times does the public and his own MPs need to reject him before he takes the hint?”

Mr Sunak responded; “This time last year I reminded him of some advice from his own mentor, Tony Blair, who had said that he could be as cocky as he likes about local elections but come a general election it’s policy that counts.

“One year on from that advice, what has he managed, £28 billion of tax rises, 70 new business regulations, 30 U-turns, and a Deputy Leader under a police investigation.”

But Sir Keir hit back: “I’m surprised he has brought up a police investigation.

“His record is played one…no actually two, the seatbelt…played two lost two in relation to police investigations.

“The voters tell him it’s not good enough, instead of listening he keeps telling everything is fine if only they realised his greatness. He just does not get it.”

The Labour leader added: “But at least after Thursday night (the elections), he can go to the many places that he calls home and enjoy the fruits of his success.

“In Southampton or Downing Street, he’s got great Labour councils.

“At his mansion in Richmond, he can enjoy a bright new Labour mayor of North Yorkshire.

“And at his pad in Kensington, he can celebrate a historic third term for the Mayor of London.

“Now that he too can enjoy the benefits of this changed Labour Party, is he really still in such a hurry to get back to California?”

But Mr Sunak came back on the attack, saying: “I was of course surprised to see the Honourable Gentleman in North Yorkshire.

“But probably not as surprised as he was when he realised he could not take the Tube there.

“But I can tell you that the people of North Yorkshire believe in hard work, secure borders, lower taxes and straight forward common sense.

“They are not going to get any of that from a virtue-signalling lawyer from North London.”

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