If knowing how to count is the most important thing in politics, Rishi Sunak should be the master.
Yet the Prime Minister is discovering that there is more to making Westminster work. Emotional intelligence is the missing ingredient in the Sunak mix and it is coming to dominate everything, as both voters and MPs ask whether the Prime Minister really gets it. And they’re asking the same of Keir Starmer too.
Both men are fact fans. They look for numbers and examples to back up their political arguments and deploy them in every situation from the Commons to the constituency. Yet when people are asked to name a great leader they often choose someone like Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher or Winston Churchill, who were defined by their ability to connect, even if some didn’t like what they saw.
The problem for Rishi Sunak is that his own MPs still don’t really know who he is and last week they gave up trying to find out. They have grown tired of hoping that he might prove he’s just like them, putting him in dangerous territory as the local elections loom in May and talk of a rival to replace him takes hold in the tea room.
If last week was........