by Rishi Sunak’s premiership is under threat from a chaotic conspiracy of backbench MPs seeking to replace Penny Mordaunt before the general election.
With the Conservatives topping 24 per cent in the polls, jittery MPs from across the party are said to have met and discussed “coronating” Ms Mordaunt as prime minister.
Because of the desperate attempt to support the Conservatives, their sixth prime minister would be sent to the country since the 2010 general election, and the third not to go to the country.
But allies of Ms Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, denied there was a plot to install her as Tory leader, describing the plans as “nonsense”.
Meanwhile former Tory minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who has public support for installing a new leader before the nation goes to the polls, denied that right-wing Tory MPs would unite behind Mr Mordaunt.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former business secretary, slammed the idea as “mad”.
Transport secretary Mark Harper told Sky News on Sunday that Mr Sunak “will be going into that election” and stressed that the government’s “plan is working” and he is “confident we will win”. .
“I will support him for life, and I am sure my colleagues will support him,” he said.
Mr Harper also described reports that there could be a snap election in May as “nonsense”.
Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said the Conservative Party is in turmoil, with MPs debating whether Mr Sunak can even continue as PM.
He told Sky News: “This is no longer in the best interests of the country. It is irresponsible. We need stability in this country.
“He could stabilize this by naming a general election date. Otherwise, I fear we will have a Tory leadership election before a general election.”
With many Tories becoming increasingly concerned about losing their seats in the election, reports in the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph Proposed deaths on the right of the party to meet modes this week to discuss unity behind Ms Mordaunt if the prime minister has a vote of no confidence.
The prime minister will only increase pressure after May 2, when the Conservatives could lose swathes of local council seats across the country.
It followed a difficult week for Mr Sunak, in which he came under fire for his handling of allegedly racist comments made by a major party donor, and the fault of Lee Anderson – who Mr Sunak promoted to deputy chairman Tory – right-wing populist Reform UK party.
Ms Mordaunt, who is a contender in the party’s leadership race to replace Boris Johnson in 2022, has not commented on the claims but allies suggested she was focusing on her ministerial role.
Mr Jenkyns tweeted: “Interesting to hear reports in the media about centre-right Conservative MPs pushing for a certain leadership candidate to replace Rishi.
“After talking to many of my colleagues, it seems no one has heard of or is pushing for something like this!”
Interesting to hear many reports in the media of centre-right Conservative MPs pushing for a certain leadership candidate to replace Rishi. After talking to many of my colleagues, it seems that no one has heard of or is pushing for such a thing!
— Andrea Jenkyns MP 🇬🇧 (@andreajenkyns) March 16, 2024
The noise about Mr Sunak’s position grew louder in Westminster this week, when Jeremy Hunt’s Budget failed to boost the Tories’ real polling figures and No. racist” after 24 hours of prevarication, and still refusing to return the £10 million the businessman donated to the Tory party.
But source No. 10: “The Prime Minister is focused on completing his plan to build a brighter Britain.
“The plan is starting to work with inflation falling, mortgages down, wages up, the predicted economy growing and boats down by a third. But there is more to be done – that is what the Prime Minister is focusing on. Sir Keir Starmer, by contrast, has no plan and would bring us back to square one.”
The febrile mood within Mr Sunak’s ranks came as he ruled out holding a general election on May 2 to coincide with local elections, having previously indicated he would send the country to the polls in the second half of 2024.
A growing list of Tory MPs have announced their departure from Parliament, with armed forces minister James Heappey, former party chairman Sir Brandon Lewis and former prime minister Theresa May among the additions. most recent.
More than 60 Conservatives have so far said they do not plan to run, prompting Sir Ed Davey to accuse many of “running away from the Lib Dems because they know that we can beat them in those seats”.
Speaking to the PA news agency ahead of his party’s spring conference in York, the Lib Dem leader expressed optimism about nabbing Conservative constituencies “across the south west of England and across the whole blue wall where it’s a Lib Dem-Conservative fight”. .
“The response we are getting is amazing. The Conservatives for Life are switching to the Liberal Democrats, which gives us a lot of credit that we can beat a lot of Conservative MPs every time the election comes,” he said.
