London(UK)- Rishi Sunak was accused of ‘mansplaining’ in the TV debate for the Tory leadership race.
Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who is supporting Rishi Sunak in the race to become the next prime minister, has defended the tone of the BBC TV debate last night.
His candidate has been accused of “mansplaining” by the Liz Truss camp and, though his arguments seemed to undermine some of the foreign secretary’s economic plans, his delivery saw him frequently interrupt her.
There were several fiery exchanges during the hour.
Sir Robert told Kay Burley: “I think in a debate like that, where you’ve got differences about how to manage the immediate economy, I want to hear that lively exchange.
“And at times, yes, it can be a bit feisty. I myself can get feisty in debates as well.
“But I think that at the end of it all, there was mutual respect between them that shone through in the last 10 minutes.
“These people have known each other well. They’ve sat around the cabinet table. They’re capable of having a mature debate.
“And, the content of the debate, I thought was pretty good.”
Last night’s TV debate saw Liz Truss suggest she would be willing to work with Rishi Sunak in government. He in turn indicated he would accept a job if she was to win.
However, in comments reported after the dust had settled on the debate, a spokesman for Liz Truss said: “Rishi Sunak has tonight proven he is not fit for office.
“His aggressive mansplaining and shouty private school behaviour is desperate, unbecoming, and a gift to Labour.”
Tory viewers preferred Truss while Labour voters preferred Sunak, YouGov poll shows
Former president of YouGov Peter Kellner says his snap view is that Mr Sunak had the “better arguments”. While Liz Truss “had the better presentation”.
Mr Kellner says the poll that was run by his former YouGov colleague had both candidates “tied among the audience”. Mr Sunak receiving 39% and Ms Truss getting 38% of the votes.
However, Conservative viewers were “more in favour” of Ms Truss and Labour voters “were more in favour” of the former chancellor. With results showing Ms Truss hit 47% of the votes with Tory voters while Mr Sunak received 38%.
“These are Conservative voters, not Conservative Party members but I would expect the response of Tory party members to be not dissimilar to that,” he says.
“And in any event, Rishi Sunak starting 20 points or so behind, he really needed to wipe the floor with Liz last night.
“Think of it as as a soccer match coming into last night’s contest.
“Liz Truss was two nil up halfway through the second half. She played defence, which you would if you are defending the goal.
“Rishi Sunak needed to play attack, he did play attack, but I don’t think he scored any goals.”
Mr Kellner goes on to say Mr Sunak was “pristine last year” and seen as election winner but not now.
“People knew him as the guy who gave away money through the pandemic. But this spring, this February, March, April, were pretty grim for him,” he adds.
“He’s not really recovered from that. Maybe a little, but not sufficiently.”