Channel 4 News said its reporters did not know Parker before they met him as a Reform volunteer.

In the video, which was covertly filmed, Parker says: “I’ve always been a Tory (Conservative) voter but what annoys me is that f---ing Paki we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. F---ing useless.”

Parker later told Channel 4 News in a statement that he had apologised to Farage and Reform “if my personal views have reflected badly on them and brought them into disrepute as this was not my intention”. His statement did not address Sunak.

Reuters could not immediately reach Parker for comment.

Sunak, 44, became prime minister in 2022 after first serving as finance minister, steering Britain’s economy through the coronavirus pandemic during Boris Johnson’s premiership.

Loading

He told reporters travelling on an election campaign bus with him on Friday that for the vast majority of Britons, people should be judged according to their merits and character, not their skin colour or gender.

Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a non-partisan think-tank which focuses on migration and identity, echoed this comment.

“For most voters Sunak’s ethnic and faith background, something they are aware of, is not the dominant lens in how they view his strengths and weaknesses,” said Katwala.

Voters will mostly judge Sunak on his record, Katwala said, noting his popularity during the pandemic, and how that had fallen sharply after he became prime minister and grappled with a stagnant economy and record hospital waiting times.

The incident involving Parker could damage Reform because most of its supporters are not racist despite supporting a tougher approach on immigration, Katwala added.

“It is a risk for the party, they need to very carefully police who they let in,” he said.

Reform has defended one of its candidates who said Britain should have “taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality” during World War II, while another of the party’s candidate has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.