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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Bethany Gavaghan

Is Rishi Sunak doing a good job? We asked people in Cardiff what they make of him

The third Prime Minister of 2022 has been in the job for just ten weeks so far, and it's safe to say it has been far from uneventful. The collapse of market confidence in the Truss administration may have eased but inflation is still sky high, the economy is still in difficulty, strikes have hit major public services and the NHS is in the mother of all crises.

What do the people of Wales feel about Rishi Sunak's actions, of lack of them, to face up to these challenges so far? We spoke to people in Cardiff about their thoughts on the matter.

Katie Thomas believes the Prime Minister is "just fire fighting" at the moment (John Myers)

When Katie Thomas who lives just outside the city of Cardiff was asked if Rishi Sunak had done a good job so far, she said: "That's a very big question.

"I think he's stepped into a big mess. I feel like it's too early to comment on what he's doing. He's just firefighting at the moment."

Stuart Talbot from Cardiff admitted he has had enough of politics recently, to the point where he has now stopped paying attention. He said: "They all seem to be much of a muchness. What I take from it anyway, from what I see going on around me is the unrest.

"People are obviously in a position where they feel that it's important they get what they need now and I think most of us now are recognising domestic bills going up. Regardless of just small businesses but most of us at home are recognising rapid increases that are so obvious they can't be missed so I think what you're getting now is people making a real point on what they need and what they think they need, and what they deserve.

"Somewhere we have to find a way in the middle, hopefully."

Matthew Quick from Bridgend also noted: "Well everything's very expensive lately. I'd probably put wages up a bit to still keep things balanced."

Megan, who is also from Bridgend added: "I feel like more could be done... He could get more personal with everything that's going on. I feel like there's a lot of issues at the moment.

"There are especially a lot of housing issues at the moment."

Eric Pratcher from Cardiff said: "The more striking there is at the moment, the more they're trying to get the government to pay attention but the government to do something about it but the government doesn't seem to care that people are being inconvenienced so much in this way until they keep going on and on, but nothing's changing.

"Since Rishi Sunak has been Prime Minister I haven't seen any change in regards to the strikes so in that respect I would say no."

Eric Pratcher from Cardiff believes that Rishi Sunak could be doing better (Jon Myers)

Downing Street has faced ample criticism recently for the pressures on the NHS, and they responded earlier today saying that the Government is doing "everything possible" to increase the number of beds available amid concerns.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: "The NHS is already maximising its number of beds, so the equivalent of 7,000 additional beds, plus funding for discharges and increasing virtual wards. That's all to free up capacity. Again, that's all thanks to the extra funding, the billions of extra pounds we've put in.

The Prime Minster was also recently slammed for an 'excruciating' exchange with homeless man after footage from his visit to a homeless shelter in London heard him asking a man he is serving food to: “Do you work in business?”

The man, called Dean, replies: “No, I’m homeless. I’m actually a homeless person.”

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