AND WE'RE OFF Ex-cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke calls for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resign

 

AND WE'RE OFF Ex-cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke calls for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resign

But he was met with a stinging rebuke from fellow Tory MPs who said another change of PM - the fifth since 2010 - would be crazy

 

Harry Cole Jack Elsom

Published: 21:02, 23 Jan 2024Updated: 1:29, 24 Jan 2024

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/25463799/sir-simon-clarke-prime-minister-rishi-sunak-resign/

 

Sir Simon Clarke is calling for Rishi Sunak to quit tonight

 

But he was met with a stinging rebuke from some fellow MPs who said another change of PM - the fifth since 2010 - would be crazy.

 

Many in the party tonight closed ranks around Mr Sunak and hit out at "silly" attacks in an election year.

 

Sir Simon - one of Liz Truss' key backers - said it was “devastatingly obvious” the Tories are heading for defeat.

 

Going public in the Telegraph, the former Levelling Up Secretary pointed to recent polling showing a 1997-style wipeout for the Tories.

 

He wrote: "The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred.

 

"Denial of impending catastrophe is an extraordinarily powerful human instinct."

 

He pointed to problems with mass immigration, slow growth and a lack of house-building.

 

The ex-Cabinet Minister - one of 11 Rwanda rebels last week - said Mr Sunak's personal appeal had "gone from asset to anchor".

 

Mr Clarke blasted: "He lags Keir Starmer — himself no Tony Blair — by double digits on the 'Best Prime Minister' metric."

 

Trying to stir a full-throated Tory rebellion, he called on other Tory MPs to follow his lead and demand a change at the top.

 

He said: "Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives. Failing to act would itself represent a decision.

 

"We have a clear choice. Stick with Rishi Sunak, take the inevitable electoral consequences, and give the Left a blank cheque to change Britain as they see fit.

 

"Or we can change leader, and give our country and party a fighting chance."

 

He becomes the second Tory MP to break cover publicly calling for the PM to quit, after Dame Andrea Jenkyns.

 

Tory chiefs last night hit back at Mr Clarke's all-out attack on the PM.

 

But a Senior Tory spokesman hit back: “This is a self-indulgent attempt to undermine the government at a critical moment for the country.

 

“He may claim to be helping the party but the only person he is doing any favours for is Sir Keir Starmer.”

 

Veteran Tory MP David Davis said: "This is getting silly. The Party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK's best interests."

 

Former Cabinet Minister Liam Fox added: "This is not the time for self indulgence and tribalism in the party.

 

"Those who have an agenda to destabilise the government in an election year should understand the consequences. Having been on the front bench for all 13 years in opposition, it is a miserable place. Be warned."

 

The move comes after 60 MPs last week defied party whips to demand the PM toughen up his flagship migration policies.

 

One leading rebellion organiser said last night: “The country has had enough and many MPs have had enough. Rishi is leading us to electoral oblivion."

 

They added: "The polling shows he’s a drag on the party and that another Conservative leader could quite easily turn the tide against Starmer who is also a dud.

 

"There’s no point in going quietly into the night to be killed - we have to fight. Rishi cannot deliver any message that the public wants to hear.

 

"We can and must change to have any chance of a respectable outing at the election.

 

“This is a question of whether we want to spend five years or ten years out of government.”

 

Opposition parties reacted gleefully tonight to more Tory infighting.

 

Labour's Pat McFadden said: "Labour will focus on serving the British people whilst the Tories form another circular firing squad."

 

The Lib Dems said: "It is utterly ludicrous that the Conservative Party is even discussing installing a fourth Prime Minister without even giving voters a say."