Rishi Sunak insists he has 'absolutely not' given up on the general election after Cabinet minister Grant Shapps conceded Tories could be heading for huge defeat by warning voters not to hand Labour a 'supermajority'

Rishi Sunak today insisted he has 'absolutely not' given up on the general election after a senior Tory conceded the party could suffer a huge defeat.

The Prime Minister said he was 'really energised' after outlining £17billion worth of tax cuts in the Conservative manifesto.

Mr Sunak hailed the Tory offer of 'tax cuts at every stage of your life' as he denied there had been a shift in tone from his party.

The PM was quizzed about comments by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who earlier urged voters not to hand Labour a 'supermajority'.

The Cabinet minister warned it would be 'very bad news' for the UK if Sir Keir Starmer entered No10 on 5 July with 'unchecked' power.

He added that Britain 'doesn't function well' when political parties enjoy victories similar to the size of Tony Blair's 179-seat majority at the 1997 general election.

Mr Shapps's warning had appeared to suggest a shift in Tory strategy ahead of this year's contest on 4 July, as Labour continue to enjoy a sizeable poll lead.

A new social media advert being pushed by the Conservatives has warned that Sir Keir is seeking a 'blank cheque' from voters.

It tells Brits that 'the more votes for Reform, the Liberal Democrats or anyone else will hand Labour 100 extra seats'.

The ad points to a scenario in which Labour could enjoy their largest-ever majority with 490 seats in the House of Commons from a 43 per cent vote share.

Under the same 'predicted outcome', the Lib Dems are on 61 seats from 10 per cent of the vote, and the Tories are on just 57 seats from a 19 per cent vote share - while Reform are not represented by a single MP from an 18 per cent vote share.

Speaking to journalists later on the campaign trail, Mr Sunak was asked whether the change in tone from Mr Shapps showed the Tories had conceded defeat.

The PM replied: 'No absolutely not. What you saw yesterday is we've put a manifesto forward which has got a very clear set of tax cuts for the country, tax cuts at every stage of your life.

'Whether you're working or setting up a small business, tax cuts when you're trying to buy your first home, tax cut for pensioners, and tax cuts for families.

'And I'm really energised to now have a chance to put a very clear plan to the country and talk about all the things I want to do.'

Mr Sunak added that the Conservative manifesto, which he unveiled yesterday, showed a 'clear direction of travel' the Tories would take if they win the election.

The PM also urged voters not to give Labour a 'blank cheque' because 'they're not telling people what they would do with it as he repeated his claim that the party's policies would result in a £2,000 tax hike.

'The choice at the election is pretty clear because Labour are just going to put up your taxes,' he continued. 'And what they're asking people for is a blank cheque.

'They're not telling people what they would do with it, how much it's going to cost them, but I can tell them it's going to cost them £2,094.'

This morning, Mr Shapps told Times Radio that to ensure proper accountability 'you don't want to have somebody receive a supermajority'.

He said: 'In this case, of course, the concern would be that if Keir Starmer were to go into No 10 – it will either be Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer, there's no other outcomes to this election – and that power was in some way unchecked, it would be very bad news for people in this country.

'A blank-cheque approach, allowing someone to do anything they wanted, particularly when their particular set of plans are so vague, and they say 'change', but you have no idea what they actually want to change to, other than the fact that they've outlined plans which would cost £2,094 to every working family in this country.'

Mr Shapps added: 'It's perfectly legitimate to say the country doesn't function well when you get majorities the size of Blair's or even bigger.

'And we would say there are a lot of very good, hardworking MPs who can hold the government of the day to account and we'd say those are Conservative MPs.'

Labour has disputed the Tory claim that it would need to implement tax rises of £2,094 per household over the course of the next Parliament, with Sir Keir's party hitting back at Conservative 'lies'.