‘Reform are going to kill us’: Tory rebels react to local election defeats | Westminster Source

‘Reform are going to kill us’: Tory rebels react to local election defeats | Westminster Source

well the results of the local elections have been rolling in and it’s already clear the Tories have had a bruising time the question now is what the conservative Rebels do and how safe is Rishi sunak we’ve been talking to a load of Tories MPS AIDS party insiders to unpack that question it’s already clear three areas are beginning to emerge one is calls for sunak to be more rightwing in his policies another is for a possible cabinet reshuffle and then there’s the question about his leadership well unpack those in a moment but first let’s summarize the results so far in Blackpool South there was a thumping victory for labor Su that call that general election and a really bad defeat for the Tories the Tory vote share dropped from about 50% in the 2019 general election to around 177% that is supposedly the third biggest drop in Tory vote share at a byelection since the second world war one of the most notable things there was how much reform surged in fact they almost the Tories into second place that’s a significant milestone for us they would just shy 117 votes of that so that’s a real danger sign for the conservatives on the councils the early picture is as expected the Tories are losing about one in two of the councilors who they had standing labor are doing well the greens are up a little and the libdems are up but not perhaps as much as they could have hoped for labor actually took full control of a number of notable councils Rushmore is one that’s supposedly the home with the British army because of Barracks there heartley pool is another that was where the Tories won a big byelection back in 2021 but laan now controls the council but it’s not all Rosy for labor one area where they didn’t do great was Olden which actually they lost control of and that’s been put down to a backlash over that Israel Gaza stance and then there’s the picture with the mays that’s going to roll in throughout the weekend but one really notable result has already dropped Ben hin has hung on in the teas Valley for the Tories that’s a big boost Downing Street now he was expected to win he won 73% of the vote last time but still it’s something rishy sunak can cling to as he tries to spin the results in his favor so what is happening with the Tory Rebellion that’s what we spent a lot of Friday trying to find out talking to NPS talking to advisers talking to government Figures it’s pretty clear that there is widespread disillusionment with the current state of the party and the leadership that’s not that surprising just look at the polls they’re 20 points behind and these local election results have reinfor for the fact that that is a true reflection of what voters are thinking that’s not just some mythical scenario being conjured up in the surveys the question though is what to do about it and how hard those who are disillusioned are going to push Downing Street about it so let me give you a sense of what some of those people have been saying we talked to one former Tory MEP David Campbell banman he’s the chairman of the conservative Democratic organization he actually called for rishy sunak to go he’s said his leadership had been disastrous visionless vacuous and he had a message to torian PS he said if you don’t dump sunak now the party is finished for a decade we also talked to some critics in the rebel group of MPS and former advisors who are trying to OU Rishi sunak one said reform are going to kill us another said this is at the extreme upper end of how bad it could have been with those polling numbers can you understand why there’s of growing rumors and speculation and briefing in Westminster that your political enemies Within the Tor party might move against you after the M local election so Harry look obviously that’s your job you’re a political journalist you spend your time in Westminster and that if I’m being totally candid with you that’s not where I’m focused so how is this anger going to manifest well one thing we’re already seeing is Tory MP’s calling for richy sunak to adopt more traditionally conservative policies de mandri Jenkins one of only two t m piece to have previously called on richy suak to go wrote a piece for the telegraph on Friday arguing just that she said prime minister if you are still around be bold be radical and she added rishy sunak has now been told by the electorate wake up be conservative or you lose now she is part of the grouping on the right so she would argue that but she’s not alone other people are arguing the same thing a different T MP told us the party has not delivered what our voters want so what does that mean well some Tories are calling for Boulder tax cut measures others are calling for tougher immigration rules and tougher border policy policies and also things like tougher welfare policies the thing is Downing Street will cter and say that’s exactly what we’ve been doing in recent weeks they’ve announced increased defense spending a Crackdown on benefits and also rishy sunak and Jeremy Hunt the chancellor keep talking about tax cuts the question is whether their message is really cutting through another thing you’re seeing today already is a call for a cabinet reshuffle a so-called War election cabinet the argument again is being voiced by the Tory right they richy sunak has got too many moderates in the cabinet and why not promote some of the right Wingers who used to be in there like pretty Patel Jacob ree smog somebody even said Boris Johnson should come back as Tory chairman so I suppose this is a bit of a wish list on the Tory right and I’m sure critics would say it’s just shuffling the chairs on the deck of the Titanic but still those calls are out there the key question though and the one we’ve been thinking about for weeks is will anybody really try to OU Rishi sunak to move against him to submit those no confidence letters on the of these results the truth right now is we’re not too sure it depends how the next couple of days play out but it is notable if you listen carefully to what Tor MPS are and aren’t saying look at what Nadine Dory said on TV another really vocal critic she said it would be Madness and insane to try and get rid of rishy sunak instead she called for a cabinet reshuffle in fact by noon on Friday not a single Tory MP had gone public issuing a new call for the prime minister to go and I think that’s quite ter in for where the mood of the party generally is on the back benches even though a lot of tmps are disillusioned a lot of them have this nagging question if we got rid of rishy sunak would vus reward us or would they roll their eyes and ridicule us I think a lot of concluded it’s the latter and so they’re reluctant to move on the leader now it’s not over yet we’ve got more results to come throughout the weekend and I’m sure more Tory MPS going public making demand for changes but in Downing Street they’ll be hoping to cling to that Ben hon Victory survive the storm and get to the election with rishy sunak Still Standing so yes there is Tori MP anger and frustration at the result but no it doesn’t look like rishy sunak is going to be forced out right now Westminster source is a telegraph video series taking you behind the scenes of British politics for the latest news check our website and app and if there’s an issue you want us to cover put it in a comment below

The Conservatives have suffered a bruising set of local election results, with a heavy by-election defeat, widespread councillor losses and a mixed picture in the mayoral races.
#rishisunak #Ukpoltics #Tory
For weeks all eyes have been on Tory malcontents, especially a group of disgruntled MPs and former advisers, to see whether they would mount an attempt to oust Rishi Sunak. 

Ben Riley-Smith, The Telegraph’s Political Editor, has been talking to Tory rebels to see what they are demanding and whether they really have the appetite or the numbers to launch a coup.

Continue reading the full article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/03/reform-tory-rebels-local-election-defeats-wetminster-source/

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