“Neither of them are blessed with natural charisma.”
This rather damning assessment of both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer – the UK’s choice of future prime minister – focuses on their speech and body language, not how they might lead the country.
The leaders of the two main parties face weeks of interviews, speeches, and walkabouts as part of their general election campaigns.
Ahead of their first live TV debate, Sky News spoke to Paul Boross, a business psychologist and body language expert who has coached several politicians and celebrities, and Elizabeth McClelland, forensic voice, speech, and language analyst, about the gestures and verbal characterisics that offer an insight into who the two frontrunners really are.
‘They’re no Obama – or Clinton’
First, we return to the accusation that neither the Conservative nor Labour leader are “blessed with natural charisma”.
According to Mr Boross, neither Rishi Sunak nor Sir Keir Starmer “have that compelling, preacher-like rhythm to their voices”, as former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton do.
“In this general election we’re not blessed with politicians who have that natural charisma – of an Obama or a Clinton,” he tells Sky News. “They both struggle to build an authentic bond with the public.”
Image: Barack Obama at the White House in 2016. Pic: Reuters
By contrast, he credits both American leaders with using few filler words and being “very clear”.
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“If you watch them, they enjoy pausing and bringing people into the conversation. That’s an art,” he says.
Ms McClelland, who has decades of experience analysing speech for legal cases, says politicians’ media training often makes it “difficult” to get an authentic idea of them.
But Mr Boross adds: “Although they’ll be working very hard to reduce those weaknesses – their body language and speech patterns often reveal them.”
Image: Outside Downing Street announcing the election. Pic: Reuters
Sunak: So fluent he barely blinks – speeding up under pressure
Having analysed Mr Sunak – both when making speeches and in interviews – Ms McClelland notes that he rarely pauses or uses filler words.
“He’s a remarkably fluent speaker,” she says. “He uses very few what we call pause phenomenon; he very seldom ‘uhms’ or ‘uhs’.”
This can be helpful, she adds, as it gives interviewers less opportunity to interrupt with a question.
She also draws on his former jobs in finance – and says: “He has a tendency to sound as though he’s selling you a high-end financial product.”
Image: At the COVID inquiry in December. Pic: PA
In terms of the sound of his voice, she describes it as “pure Westminster School, Oxbridge ‘posh’ with a contemporary twist” and “absolutely no reflection of his North Yorkshire constituency”.
This is highlighted in his pronunciation of the vowels I and O, she says.
Commenting on his body language, she adds that he “seldom blinks” and has “learned to smile a lot and speak completely to the camera or person he’s talking to.”
Although his delivery is fluent, Mr Boross notes various characteristics that reveal Mr Sunak’s nervousness or discomfort.
Giving the example of being asked if he “caught pneumonia” after delivering his Downing Street election announcement in the rain, Mr Boross says Mr Sunak often responds with “nervous laughter”.
“It’s a very Rishi Sunak thing that when he feels confronted, he automatically bursts into nervous laughter,” he says.
Image: In Inverurie in August 2022. Pic: PA
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He warns that while it may appear friendly, the tendency to “over laugh” at things can come across as “awkward” or “inauthentic”.
The prime minister also speeds up when under pressure, he adds. “When he’s flustered his speaking pace increases.”
With regards to body language, Mr Boross claims his facial muscles tighten and hands clench when he feels uncomfortable.
Image: In Macclesfield in May. Pic: PA
Although he uses few filler words, the ones he does opt for are “right and “look”, which Mr Boross warns are too “short and sharp”.
“He uses shorter, sharper ones to try and get on the front foot in interviews, but it comes across a little too tetchy”.
“It makes him seem like psychologically he’s already in opposition,” he adds.
“He practically interrupts people when he says ‘right’, which can allow a slight air of superiority to manifest”.
Image: In West Sussex in February. Pic: PA
Starmer: ‘Lawyer-ly’ over-caution with too many ‘uhms’
Sir Keir Starmer’s previous job as a barrister still dictates the way he speaks, according to the experts.
While Ms McClelland describes him as “serious”, Mr Boross says he is “over-cautious” with “controlled gestures”.
“His lawyer-ly tone can be a bit over-cautious, and while precise, it can seem overly formal and lacking in spontaneity and emotional engagement,” Mr Boross says.
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This also comes through in his body language, he adds, via a furrowed brow and “frequently looking worried or stressed”.
Both experts note he says ‘uhm’ and ‘uh’ far more often than his rival.
While in a legal context, McClelland claims this can be an indicator someone is lying, she says it can be a “purely innocent” feature of processing.
“Being a lawyer, he likes to think before he speaks, therefore I think he wants to be sure he’s expressing himself lucidly and sincerely,” she says.
Mr Boross argues it makes him sound less confident, however.
Image: On the campaign trail in West Sussex on 27 May. Pic: PA
“When I’ve worked with politicians, it’s one of the first things I eradicate from their speech, because it kills the message and makes them sound unsure.”
He adds that Sir Keir’s use of other fillers such as “right?” and “you know?” have the same effect, and suggest he needs reassurance around what he is saying.
While Mr Sunak appears to be making a concerted effort to sound more southern with his accent, Ms McClelland claims his Labour rival is doing the opposite.
“One thing I note with great interest is Starmer’s efforts to emphasise his northern credentials,” she says.
Image: With the editor of the Manchester Evening News in Oldham in January. Pic: PA
Image: Labour leader Harold Wilson at the 1967 Labour Party Conference in Scarborough. Pic: PA
Drawing a comparison with former Labour prime minister Harold Wilson, she claims Sir Keir’s pronunciation of his L and A sounds are not in line with his Surrey upbringing, Oxford education, and north London parliamentary seat.
While Mr Sunak appears “more relaxed” in front of a camera, Ms McClelland sees more sincerity in Sir Keir’s style.
“I think you get more of a sense of the man behind the media image than you do with Sunak,” she says.
Mr Boross adds, that although still less fluent, Sir Keir is “loosening up” and has demonstrated a “better and faster” arc of improvement than his rival.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
The officers who confronted the Southport killer have described, for the first time publicly, how they disarmed him – as they joined a list of 70 officers nominated for a police bravery award.
Sergeant Greg Gillespie, 42, PC Luke Holden, 31, and PCSO Tim Parry, 32, were the first to arrive as Axel Rudakubana rampaged with a knife through a holiday dance school last summer.
Speaking to Sky Newsabout what they saw when arriving at the scene, Sgt Gillespie said: “There was maybe 20 or 25 adults and all of them were looking at me, all of them have this look of terror and fear, panic on their faces and I knew whatever it was we were turning up to was really, really bad.”
His colleagues drove fast from Southport police station and were thirty seconds or so behind Sgt Gillespie.
Image: PC Luke Holden (left), PCSO Tim Parry (centre), Sgt Greg Gillespie (right) nominated for the police bravery awards
PC Holden said he saw “a large puddle of blood on the floor outside the door” and said Sgt Gillespie “just looked at me” and asked if he was ready.
“That was it, there was no conversation. There was nothing else going on. He said, ‘Are you ready?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s go’.”
PCSO Parry, who doesn’t carry a baton or pepper spray like his colleagues, went to the back of the building to stop people from entering, help anyone who needed it, and get information on the number of suspects inside.
He said: “It was a horrific scene to really go into because I was so unprepared with the equipment I had.”
Sgt Gillespie and PC Holden identified the suspect at the top of the stairs, a bloodied knife in his hand, and walked towards him shoulder to shoulder.
“I saw him, made eye contact with him, saw his facial expression, saw his body language and the way he moved himself into a position at the top of the stairs, showing us he had a knife,” Sgt Gillespie said.
“He was fronting us, like he was saying, ‘I’ve got a knife, what are you going to do about it?’
“And I think the second he realised he was looking at two people who weren’t scared of him, who were going to attack him, all that bravery that he must have summoned up to attack defenceless children, he lost that straightaway, and he threw down the knife.”
In January, Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted the murders of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, aged six and Alice da Silva Aguiar, who was nine, as well 10 charges of attempted murder, as well as possessing terrorist material and production of the biological toxin, ricin.
Image: A machete was also found at Rudakubana’s home. Pic: Merseyside Police
Dozens nominated for bravery awards
The Merseyside trio are among 70 officers from around England and Wales who have been nominated for tonight’s Police Federation national bravery awards.
They include two sergeants from Sussex who swam to the rescue of a vulnerable teenager struggling to stay afloat at night off Brighton beach.
Image: Footage of Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings rescuing a woman from the sea in Brighton. Pic: Sussex police
Police with torches had located her in the sea fifty metres from the shore, but a lifeline they threw to her didn’t reach.
Sergeant Craig Lees said: “We could see that she was starting to struggle with the cold and tide, and she began to dip under the water. We knew we needed to do something, and that was that we needed to get into the water and swim out to her.”
His colleague and friend Sergeant Matthew Seekings said: “I don’t think it’s in the blood of any police officer to watch somebody at risk or somebody needing help and not do something.
“When you’re in the sea, it’s pitch black, you don’t even know where the bottom is, it’s terrifying, and I can only imagine how the female was feeling.”
Image: Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings who are nominated for a bravery award. Pic: Sussex police
Battling their own fatigue, the two officers managed to get the girl to shore, where colleagues and paramedics were waiting to take over.
In Devizes, Wiltshire, PC Nicola Crabbe was called to a town centre fight between two men, one of whom had a knife.
Image: PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police who is nominated for a police bravery award
‘Just saturated in blood’
“They were grappling, and they were just saturated in blood,” said PC Crabbe, who confronted the man she thought was the knifeman.
“I was in the middle of the road when I grabbed hold of him, and there was a member of the public just there, and that’s when he explained to me that I had the wrong person.”
Image: CCTV image of PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police dealing with a fight in Devizes. Pic: Wiltshire police
Armed only with a baton and Pava pepper spray, she grappled with the suspect, trying to find his knife.
She said: “At one point he grabbed my hair and kind of dragged me around a bit, so I Pava’d him which just had no effect at all.”
PC Crabbe managed to restrain the knifeman until colleagues arrived and arrested him.
The full list of award winners will be announced on Thursday night during a dinner at a west London hotel.
A group of Labour MPs has urged Sir Keir Starmer to do more to tackle the rising cost of living amid fears the party could lose the next election to Reform.
The MPs are launching a new splinter group, the living standards coalition, to shift the focus to everyday concerns such as food, energy bills and housing.
In a letter to the prime minister, the group’s members warned that one question would be on the mind of voters at the next election: “Did this Labour government make me better off?”
“After 14 years of living in a no-growth economy and with some of the highest bills in Europe, our constituents are struggling to make ends meet,” they said.
“More of them are turning away from democracy and towards populism as they can’t afford a decent life.”
The coalition is the latest splinter group to form since the party’s landslide election victory a year ago.
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Other groups include the Labour growth group, which focuses on delivering economic growth, and MPs in Red Wall constituencies in the North who are alive to the threat Reform poses in their seats.
While the MPs stress they are supportive of the actions the government has taken so far, the forming of a new group could be interpreted as a sign of restlessness in the parliamentary party, especially given the fallout of last week’s botched welfare vote.
In the letter, first reported by The Guardian, the MPs write: “We are here to support your efforts to go further and faster on raising living standards. We come from every corner of our party.
“To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.
“We welcome interventions that will raise incomes. We welcome investment in labour- intensive building, education, and healthcare jobs that will raise living standards through employment. We welcome the Employment Rights Bill that will get wages rising.”
They added: “We know that some will try to stop us raising living standards.
“They will try to block us from building the affordable housing and windfarms we need to get bills down. They oppose the way we have raised revenue from the very wealthiest to invest in childcare and our NHS.
“We are glad you are keeping this government’s focus on raising living standards. We stand in support of you. It is the most important issue to our constituents and the country.”