Rishi Sunak should resign before leading the Conservative Party to “extinction”, a Tory MP has said in a scathing attack on the Prime Minister.
In a dramatic intervention on Tuesday night, Simon Clarke, a cabinet minister in Liz Truss's short-lived government, urged Mr Sunak to resign and make way for the new Conservative leadership.
in an editorial TelecommunicationsMr Clarke said Mr Sunak's “uninspiring leadership was the main obstacle to our recovery” and that he had “sadly fallen from being a force to an anchor”.
He claimed Mr Sunak “doesn't understand what Britain needs and is leading the Conservative Party to an election where we will be slaughtered”. And he is not listening to the wishes of the British people. ”
Clark's article sparked a new phase of internal party struggle. Conservative leaders from all sides of the party hit back at Mr Clark on social media.
Former home secretary Priti Patel said on the X program: “Engaging in cheap and divisive complacency only serves the interests of our adversaries.” Former EU Exiting Secretary David Davis said: The party and the country are tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of Britain's best interests. ”
Speaking from the same platform, Damien Green, chairman of the One Nation caucus of centrist Conservative MPs, said Mr Clarke's intervention was “wrong and unwise”. Former Defense Secretary Liam Fox warned: “Those seeking to destabilize the government in an election year should understand the consequences.”
Privately speaking, other Conservative MPs were even more outspoken. “I’m not sure we need our best leadership tips from Liz Truss’s right-hand man,” one minister told the Guardian.
“What the hell is Simon Clarke doing?” said a Conservative MP who supported Mr Truss in the 2022 leadership contest.
Another said: “Simon Clarke didn't help himself, his party, his country or any of his colleagues tonight – just Starmer. He went home, lay down in his dark room and finally sat down. Until we do, we need to say over and over again: “We have to fight Labor''.''
A senior Conservative Party official said of Mr Clark: “If he wants to help Sir Keir become the next prime minister, he should cross the floor.”
Mr Clarke acknowledged in his paper that “many MPs are worried that another change in leadership would be absurd,'' but added that “many MPs are worried that another change of leadership would be absurd.'' What could be more ridiculous than to quietly sleepwalk toward avoidable annihilation because you didn't want to?” Is it that clear? ”
Conservative senior figures believe Mr Clarke's intervention is part of an organized plot against Sunak by some on the Conservative right, including his colleague David Frost. The Telegraph last week published a YouGov poll suggesting the Conservatives were on course for a crushing election defeat, with Mr Frost insisting the party's only hope was to take a harder stance on immigration. Attached is an editorial.
The new Conservative Party leader will be the fourth Conservative prime minister in 18 months. Boris Johnson will step down in September 2022, and Mr Truss will temporarily replace him before Mr Sunak takes over.
Labour's national election campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said the Conservatives were putting together a “new traveling firing squad”. “There are many good reasons to remove this reprehensible Conservative government, and freeing the British people from endless Tory infighting is certainly one of them,” he said.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It's absolutely ridiculous that the Conservatives are even debating installing a fourth prime minister without even giving voters a say.”
