Starmer and Sunak face off in final debate before UK general election

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Sunak, whose party is behind in the opinion polls, took a combative approach, lashing out at the Labour party over tax. He noted that inflation had eased to 2 percent and claimed that he had a plan to boost the sluggish economy.

Starmer pointed to the austerity of the Conservatives’ early years in government and the chaos of the more recent past, which saw the removal of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson amid money and ethics scandals, and the brief 49-day tenure of Liz Truss, whose tax-cutting plans sent mortgages soaring.

After the debate ended, a YouGov snap poll gave Sunak a slight edge, with 51 percent saying he performed better overall, compared with 49 percent for Starmer.

Broken down into issues, however, respondents said Starmer did far better on the cost of living, the NHS, education and climate change. Sunak was seen as doing well only on tax and, by a narrow margin, on immigration.