Downing Street insists most Tory MPs support Sunak as leader

Downing Street has insisted most Tory MPs support Rishi Sunak's leadership, after a former cabinet minister called for the PM to be ousted.

Sir Simon Clarke has warned the party will be "massacred" at the next general election unless Mr Sunak is replaced.

The prime minister's press secretary said Sir Simon was entitled to his views but "clearly lots of other Conservative MPs disagree".

A number of senior Tories have criticised Sir Simon's comments.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel accused him of "engaging in facile and divisive self-indulgence", and Sir David Davis, a former Brexit secretary, said: "The party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK's best interests."

He urged his colleagues to get behind the PM, telling the Telegraph "our only chance to win the next election is by keeping Rishi in No 10".

Defending the prime minister's record, Home Secretary James Cleverly said Mr Sunak was succeeding in his attempts to cut inflation and reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

"If we were to do something as foolish as have an internal argument at this stage, all it would do is open the door for Keir Starmer," he said.

The prime minister's press secretary said "on the big issues", such as lowering taxes where it is responsible to do so, "Conservatives support the direction we're going".

Asked whether Mr Sunak was facing a "plot", she said: "This is just one MP."

With the Conservatives continuing to trail Labour in the polls, many Tory MPs are growing increasingly concerned over their party's prospects.

A general election is expected in the second half of this year, with 28 January 2025 the latest date one could legally be held.

Sir Simon is the second former minister to publicly call for Mr Sunak to resign. Former education minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister in November.

To trigger a leadership election, 53 MPs must write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee requesting one.

After this a majority of Tory MPs would have to vote against Mr Sunak in a secret ballot for him to be removed as leader.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Sir Simon said Mr Sunak's "uninspiring leadership" was "the main obstacle" to his party's recovery in the polls.

And the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland denied he was positioning himself or another figure to be a future party leader.

"I am speaking out because the stakes for our country and my party are too high at this moment to stay silent," he added.

After serving as chief secretary to the Treasury while Mr Sunak was chancellor, Sir Simon became an enthusiastic supporter of Liz Truss's leadership bid and joined her cabinet as Levelling Up Secretary.

A source close to Ms Truss said she "had no idea what Simon Clarke is/was up to and is in no way supportive of what he is saying".

Sir Simon's intervention came after Mr Sunak faced his biggest rebellion since becoming prime minister when 61 Tory MPs voted for changes to his flagship Rwanda bill.

It is not anticipated that two of the most prominent rebels - former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick - are about to join calls for the PM to go.

However, Mr Sunak's critics say discontent with his leadership extends beyond the Rwanda rebels.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of "endlessly fighting with his own MPs".

"We have seen this story time and time again with this lot, party first, country second," he said.

"The country forced to endure their division and chaos, the longest episode of Eastenders ever put to film."