Tories warn July election is a ‘dying want’ resulting from Labour ballot lead
Tory backbenchers reacted with panic today amid speculation Rishi Sunak will call a July election – with some suggesting he has a ‘death wish’.
Amid fevered speculation gripping Westminster that is not being calmed by No10, they warned of potential fresh attempts to unseat him if he pushes ahead.
The Conservatives are currently languishing far behind Labour in the opinion polls, with with giving Sir Keir Starmer‘s party a lead of in and around 20 points.
If replicated at the ballot box it could give Labour a majority of more than 200 seats and cost a swathe of Tory big-hitters their seats.
MPs telling MailOnline that Mr Sunak has a ‘death wish’ and the Parliamentary party will go ‘nuts’ if he tries to call an election.
There are claims that 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady is now accepting letters of no confidence in the leader via text message. Just 52 are needed to trigger a challenge to Mr Sunak’s leadership.
One former Cabinet minister said: ‘There will be queues outside Graham Brady’s door.’
The latest Savanta poll gave Labour a 17-point lead over the Tories. According to Electoral Calculus, those numbers would produce a 236 majority for Keir Starmer.
He would have 443 MPs, while the Conservatives would have just 124. That is compared to the 376 returned in Boris Johnson’s 2019 landslide.
But Savanta is not an outlier, in fact it has a smaller Labour lead than similar polls by Redfield & Wilton Strategies and YouGov.
They most recently put Labour’s lead at 22 and 27 points respectively.
The frenzy at Westminster came after more signs of infighting in the top ranks of the government, with a minister slamming Mr Sunak for hogging the limelight despite slumping popularity.
Johnny Mercer vented his frustrations in a bombshell memo written on his laptop, which was in full view of fellow train passengers as he travelled to London from Exeter.
He raged that No10 officials must stop ‘placating’ Mr Sunak and giving airtime to ‘average’ colleagues.
Mr Mercer demanded that more popular Cabinet ministers like Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch are instead given more media appearances.
Images of Mr Mercer’s laptop screen were handed to The Times after being photographed by a passenger in the same carriage on 6 May – four days after the local elections.
But, as well as a focus on Mr Mercer’s explosive words, there has also been a backlash within Tory ranks about the Plymouth Moor View MP’s decision to travel bare foot on public transport.
