Rishi Sunak should stay on as Tory leader until November so the party’s conference can be a ‘beauty parade’ for successors, an ex-Cabinet minister insisted today.
Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell urged Conservatives not to rush the decision as he argued that an interim replacement was not the ‘best option’.
However, he acknowledged that Mr Sunak might be ‘reticent’ to keep the job that long after his election hammering on July 4.
Grandees have been calling for the party to take time to find the right candidate in the wake of the meltdown.
Around half-a-dozen hopefuls are considering a bid, including Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman and James Cleverly.
Rishi Sunak (pictured) should stay on as Tory leader until November so the party’s conference can be a ‘beauty parade’ for successors, an ex-Cabinet minister insisted today
Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell urged Conservatives not to rush the decision as he argued that an interim replacement was not the ‘best option’
Around half-a-dozen hopefuls are considering a bid, including Suella Braverman (left) and James Cleverly (right)
Kemi Badenoch is among the favourites to become the next Tory leader
Priti Patel has also been suggested as a successor to Mr Sunak
Some Tories have been touting Iain Duncan Smith to take charge temporarily while the situation stabilises.
But in a round of interviews this morning Mr Mitchell told Times Radio: ‘An interim leader is not, in my view, the best option.
‘The best option is to seek to persuade Rishi to remain. It’s not an enormously long time in the scope of things. It’s probably till mid to end November.’
Mr Mitchell said there were ‘feelings of goodwill’ towards Mr Sunak at the meeting of the powerful 1922 committee last week. The body, now headed by Bob Blackman, will decide the rules and timetable for the leadership contest.
‘I think his instinct is almost certainly to go. I hope that he won’t. I hope he will stay till November for the reasons that I have described,’ Mr Mitchell said.
‘And at the 1922 committee meeting last week, there was a widespread feeling of sympathy and respect for Rishi Sunak.
‘And I’m sure that if he does stay, that will be the overwhelming feeling of the party.’
Mr Mitchell told LBC: ‘The Conservative Party won’t get much of a public audience right at the moment – that’s what always happens when governments go out of office and are defeated – but it will at the time of the party conference, and I think the party conference is where those who have the courage to put themselves forward to lead the Opposition, they should come under scrutiny both by their colleagues and by the party generally, and by the public.’
Sir Iain warned in an article for The Mail on Sunday that the party was ‘teetering on the brink of collapsing further’ following its drubbing.
He added: ‘That’s why I cannot think of anything worse than rushing into a leadership election.’
He was backed by former Tory Cabinet Minister Nadine Dorries, who said Sir Iain would be the ‘perfect choice’ as interim leader before choosing a permanent replacement for Rishi Sunak.
In 2005 Michael Howard delayed his departure as Conservative leader for seven months after losing to Tony Blair.
That resulted in the election of David Cameron and the Tories’ return to power in 2010.
But other Tory heavyweights say a longer contest would leave a vacuum for Labour and Reform UK to capitalise on.
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