British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attended the commemoration ceremony of the Normandy landings in Normandy, France on Thursday. However, he will not be participating in the later international gathering of world leaders, missing the opportunity to meet with U.S. President Biden and French President Macron.
According to Bloomberg, a senior UK government official stated that Sunak, who is currently campaigning, is trailing the opposition Labour Party by an average of 21.9 percentage points in opinion polls. He will not be attending the highly anticipated international event later on Thursday. Sunak participated in the morning commemoration ceremony in Normandy and delivered a speech.
Reported by the Associated Press, UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer will be joining world leaders at the event to be held later in the day at Omaha Beach. His spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
It is understood that Sunak’s early withdrawal from the Normandy landing day event provides Starmer with a platform to appear alongside the UK’s closest allies at the international event, as he may lose the election. The official mentioned that Sunak will meet with Biden, Macron, and other world leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.