British PM Goes Picking for Votes Among Ocado Robots
LUTON, England, July 2, - Badly lagging in the race to win Britain's election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went hunting for votes among robots and staff in a retail distribution center on Tuesday, kicking off his first campaign stop of the day before 5 a.m.
Sunak, who has often looked exhausted as he crossed the country during a six-week campaign, started the penultimate day of campaigning before Thursday's vote in a vast Ocado warehouse in Luton, north of London, watching robots pick items for delivery.
He then donned a high-vis jacket to help pick salad items at the warehouse owned by Ocado, one of Britain's most successful technology businesses, before he met staff over a cup of tea.
He later surprised people at a motorway service station when he joined a queue in McDonald's to buy breakfast for journalists, before he met staff at a large supermarket.
Sunak, who shocked many in his party and the country when he called an election several months earlier than expected, has endured a tough campaign, facing questions from voters and journalists as to why the country is not in better shape.
He was asked by BBC morning television if he agreed with the country's leading pollster that he had no chance of winning the election.
He did not. "I was up at four this morning talking to workers at a distribution facility," he said. "I'm here talking to you. I'll be out till the last moment of this campaign because I think it's a really important choice for the country."
