Thread by @paulwaugh

.@RishiSunak's warning of a Tory windfall tax suggests he's listening to the public on the cost of living crisis.

Tonight's #WaughOnPolitics

inews.co.uk/opinion/dont-c…

“Few Chancellors make it to PM. And he just looks too awkward to be a leader,” one former minister said. “But Rishi could be remembered as the guy who kept the country going in the pandemic and then got us back in the black, with an income tax cut on top. Not a bad legacy.”

Another backbencher said Sunak had a chance at political redemption if he “stops all the naff Instagram stuff”.

Any hope of being PM seems remote, but some think the only way he can keep that dream alive is if he stops actively preparing for it and focuses totally on the Treasury. “It’s like dating isn’t it? The less desperate you look, the more likely you are to have success,” said one MP

Labour unconvinced Sunak gets it even now. "He’s basically realised we’re winning the argument and that it’s cutting through on the doorstep – he didn’t heed our warnings on NI [National Insurance] so is probably thinking again."