Rishi Sunak vows to stick around for another five years regardless of election result

Rishi Sunak has vowed to stick around in British politics for at least another five years regardless of the outcome of the general election.

Mr Sunak confirmed he would serve a full five-year term if he is victorious on June 4.

That would see him staying in Downing Street to 2029 at the very least.

And the PM promised voters he would stay as an MP for at least another five years, even if the Tories are defeated in next month’s national poll.

Mr Sunak made the promise as he took a step back from the election campaign while attending the G7 summit in Italy.

Asked by the Daily Express if he would stay as PM for a full five-year term if his party triumphs three weeks time, Mr Sunak responded with a decisive “Yes”.

He gave exactly the same response when asked if he would stay as an MP, for Richmond in Yorkshire, for five more years if he is voted out of No 10.

It is the first time he has confirmed he will stay on for another five years.

Last month Mr Sunak said his North Yorkshire constituency is "wonderful" and he will remain in parliament whatever the outcome when the country goes to the polls.

There has been speculation that Mr Sunak, who previously worked at a hedge fund in California, could be eyeing a job in Silicon Valley as the Tories struggle to make up ground against Labour.

Mr Sunak was first elected to parliament in 2015.

Some of his predecessors have stayed on as backbenchers after stepping down, including Liz Truss and Theresa May.

But others have chosen to walk away from their political careers after being ousted from the top job.

David Cameron gave up his seat two months after resigning over the Brexit referendum, saying he did not want to be a "distraction", while Boris Johnson dramatically walked away from his Uxbridge constituency in protest at the findings of a parliamentary investigation into whether he lied about partygate.

With the Tories trailing Labour in the polls Mr Sunak also said he would not be changing tactics for the second half of the election campaign.

Asked if was planning any late changes to his campaigning style, Mr Sunak said: “No, we're out and about, and I think as we were saying yesterday it's really good that both manifestoes are out now because it's really clear what the choice is at the election.

“I think you can see that most clearly on tax: if I am re-elected there will be a tax cut for people at every stage of their lives - everyone in work, everyone who is setting up a small business or self-employed, young people who are buying their first home, young families with children, but also pensioners.

“People at every stage of their lives are going to get a tax cut, because I do think you can curb the unsustainable increase in the welfare bill, and that I think is the right choice for the country and in contrast Labour are just going to put up your taxes.

“And as you saw over the past few days, they just can't tell people unequivocally that they are not going to do that and the analysis shows that they'll raise the tax burden to the highest levels that this country has seen in our history. I know in the past people were quite focussed on the tax burden, so I am sure you'll be quite focussed on that too!”