Wives of Tory leaders hit campaign trail

RISHI Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, and James Cleverly’s wives hit the election campaign trail in Suffolk on Wednesday to help bolster the Conservative party's sagging fortunes.

Almost all pollsters have been forecasting a rout for the Conservative party in the July 4 general election.

Prime minister's wife Akshata Murty, was joined by chancellor's wife Lucia Hunt, and home secretary's wife Susie Cleverly, for a day of canvassing in Fordham, according to media reports.

Culture Secretary and local Tory candidate Lucy Frazer also joined them for a door-to-door campaign. They spoke to residents and handed over Tory party leaflets.

The group was dressed casually and was spotted taking selfies with residents and Conservative volunteers.

While Akshata has been active during the Tory campaign and was present when her husband launched the party manifesto on June 11, Lucia and Susie are rarely seen during official engagements.

Akshata is the daughter of N R Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Indian software giant Infosys.

In sharp contrast, Victoria Starmer, wife of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, has so far stayed away from publicly campaigning for Labour.

Starmer told LBC that Victoria was focusing on her job in the NHS and help their son study for his GCSE exams.

The Labour leader said his son had completed his last exam last Friday.

With the polling day barely two weeks away, political parties are pulling out all stops to woo voters.