Rebel Tory MPs ‘surrender and go to the pub’ as plot to oust Sunak fails
The Tory plot to oust Rishi Sunak fizzled out yesterday, despite ‘disappointing’ local election results that leave Labour on course for power.
Disaffected Tories had planned to use the elections as a springboard for a coup against the Prime Minister.
But despite results that left the Conservatives on track to lose half the seats they contested, rebels admitted they had not persuaded enough MPs to join them to force a vote of no confidence in Mr Sunak’s leadership.
One rebel said simply: ‘We’re off to the pub.’
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the first Tory MP to publicly move against the PM, said it was ‘unlikely’ that others would follow in sufficient numbers to trigger a leadership contest.
Tory Ben Houchen (pictured) who won the Tees Valley mayoral race and posed with Rishi Sunak following his victory
Rishi Sunak was under threat of being ousted following disappointing local election results but the plot to replace him fizzled out with Tory rebels opting to go to the pub instead
Conservatives MPs are worried that the latest local election results will pave the way for a Labour victory at the next general election
‘My stance is the same,’ she said. ‘But we are where we are and it is looking unlikely that the MPs are going to put the letters in, so we need to pull together.’
Former Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries – another high-profile critic of the PM – said it would be ‘madness’ to try to replace Mr Sunak before the general election, adding that it would ‘make no difference’ to the result.
One rebel source said it was clear that Mr Sunak would ‘limp on to the election’, adding: ‘We’re not kamikaze pilots. In the end, there are too many MPs with their heads stuck in the sand for it to work.’
One ally of the PM urged warring Tories to unite behind Mr Sunak and take the fight to Labour. ‘It would certainly help if we could get to a situation where everyone was turning their fire on Labour instead of constantly warring with each other,’ the source said.
The Tories are on course to lose around 500 of the 1,000 seats they were defending. Labour took control of councils in key swing seats such as Thurrock, Redditch, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes, and seized control in traditional Tory areas in the South East, such as Rushmoor in Hampshire, and Adur in West Sussex.
The Conservatives were also thumped in the Blackpool South by-election, which was taken by Labour on a huge 26 per cent swing, with the Tory candidate barely 100 votes ahead of Reform UK.
In another embarrassment, Dan Skaith won the York and North Yorkshire mayoral contest, leaving Mr Sunak – the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire – with a Labour mayor in his backyard.
Mr Sunak admitted the results were ‘disappointing’. But he said an against-the-odds victory for Tory Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley mayoral race showed Labour was not making the breakthroughs needed to be sure of victory.
Former Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries said it would be ‘madness’ to try to replace Mr Sunak now
The Tories are on course to lose around 500 of the 1,000 seats they were defending and Labour have taken control of councils in key swing seats such as Thurrock and Milton Keynes
The PM said voters were ‘frustrated and wondering why they should vote’, but writing in The Daily Telegraph, he insisted: ‘The fact that Labour is not winning in places they admit they need for a majority shows that Keir Starmer’s lack of plan and vision is hurting them.’
Tory sources said Labour’s push for power had ‘stalled’, with the party failing to clinch victory in key election battlegrounds such as Harlow in Essex.
Sir Keir Starmer said Labour had achieved ‘historic’ results and urged the PM to ‘make way’ and call an election.
A projected national vote share produced for the BBC put Labour on 34 per cent, ahead of the Conservatives on 25, the Liberal Democrats on 17 and ‘others’ on 24.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice said the figures suggested Labour was in ‘pole position’ to win the election.
However, a similar exercise conducted for Sky News suggested Labour’s performance would leave it short of an overall majority, putting Sir Keir in charge of the largest party in a hung parliament.
Labour celebrations were also dented by evidence that some Muslim voters are deserting the party in protest at Sir Keir’s stance on the Gaza conflict.
Labour sources suggested Tory Andy Street could hang on as West Midlands mayor today as disaffected Muslim voters punish Sir Keir.
There was speculation last night that the London mayoral race could also be tighter than expected.
Conservative candidate Susan Hall had been written off in her bid to deny Labour’s Sadiq Khan a third term, but some commentators suggested that a high turnout in outer boroughs could help the Tories close the gap.
