Rishi Sunak has travelled to Ilfracombe on the North Devon coast on the very day Boris Johnson is expected to face intense scrutiny during the PMQs.
On what is expected to be one of the toughest days of the prime minister’s time in office, Johnson will be fielding questions from both sides of the aisle about the alleged garden party in No.10, reportedly held on March 20, 2020 – when the rest of the country was in lockdown.
Johnson has refused to deny that he attended the drinks himself, even though there are now serious questions about how long he might remain in the post.
And it has definitely raised eyebrows that one of his most senior cabinet ministers will not be joining him on the frontbenches.
Two hours before PMQs started, Sunak posted on Twitter that he was “excited” to be in 230 miles away in Ilfracombe, visiting a pharmaceutical company, before adding ”#PlanForJobs”.
However, the Sun’s Harry Cole tweeted: “Supporters of the chancellor insist this has been in the diary for some time and even had a grid slot before all the dramarama.”
Still, as no ministers appeared on the daily media round on Wednesday morning either, Sunak’s absence from London – and the timing of it – only added to the social media speculation about what was truly going on in Downing Street.
Sunak has also been pegged as a popular contender to replace Johnson, which led to another batch of jokes about the chancellor’s personal ”#PlanForJobs”.
