Recession Marks The Start Of A Difficult Weekend For Rishi Sunak

Confirmation that the UK has entered a recession brought what felt like a brief period of renewed Tory momentum to a halt as voters went to the polls in two by-elections for the party on Thursday.

One Conservative MP told PoliticsHome they were "really worried" about new economic data, warning that it will mean voters feeling "more and more tightened" as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to mitigate the decline of his party's popularity before the general election, which must be called this year. 

The Office for National Statistics published highly anticipated data on Thursday that showed the UK had entered a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative growth, clashing with one of Sunak's five central pledges to grow the economy before the country next goes to the polls.

The underlying data appeared to paint an even bleaker picture of economic conditions in the UK in a make-or-break year for the two leading political parties. There have been seven consecutive quarters of negative growth per person, dating back to the beginning of 2022, said the ONS — the longest stretch on record.

Luke Tryl, UK Director at More in Common, told PoliticsHome the news was "damaging" for Sunak's "beleaguered" Conservatives because it will make it even harder for the party to convince the public that it is best placed to oversee an economic recovery.

Heading into a general election, which Sunak has indicated is likely to be in the Autumn, the Tories have put a promise to repair the economy at the centre of their message, warning voters that a Labour government would take the country back to "square one".

"The truth is that in real terms, being up or down 0.3 per cent doesn't make much of a difference to people, but in this case the