"admit you have failed and call a General Election.”
Rishi Sunak’s position as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister hangs in the balance as the party suffered huge losses in the local elections.
With a General Election just months away, Tory MPs are privately discussing whether to force a vote of no confidence in their leader.
As counts continue across the UK, the Tories are on course to lose more than 500 of the council seats they were defending, with over 120 confirmed losses so far.
Labour has had more than 100 gains, with party leader Sir Keir Starmer describing the results as “seismic”.
Polling guru Professor John Curtice called the Blackpool result “spectacular” and said they “confirm” the terrible polls for the Tories over the last year.
He said: “This is not an isolated case that you can explain away.”
Meanwhile, Labour’s Chris Webb won the Blackpool South Parliamentary by-election with 26% swing from the Tories.
Mr Webb said: “The people of Blackpool South have told Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives they have had enough. Prime Minister, admit you have failed and call a General Election.”
What’s worse is that the Tories only narrowly beat Reform UK in the by-election.
The results so far showed that where the Tories were facing Reform candidates their vote dropped by 17% on average compared to 11% where there was no Reform candidate.
Ex-Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, who is now a Reform MP, mocked his former colleagues:
“Reform’s vote is going up and up and up, the Tory vote is going down and down and down…Reform will win seats [in the General Election].”
According to Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the only thing saving Rishi Sunak currently is “paralysis” among Tory MPs.
She said: “I don’t think the letters are going to go in at the moment. MPs are paralysed.”
Dame Andrea instead proposed a “plan B” of bringing figures like Suella Braverman back into the cabinet and allowing Boris Johnson to return as a candidate at the next election.
Attention is on the Tees Valley Mayor election today where Tory Ben Houchen won 78.8% of the vote in 2021 but is struggling to hold on against his Labour rival with a result expected at lunchtime.
One Conservative MP pushing for a leadership contest said:
“It really is now or never. If we don’t do anything the party will consigned to oblivion.”
A final decision may wait until early tomorrow afternoon with the West Midlands Mayor election result covering a region with almost 30 battleground constituencies.
Conservative mayor Andy Street also fighting for survival despite removing Conservative symbols from much of his literature.
However, there is speculation that if the 52 letters required to go to 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady to trigger a vote of confidence in Mr Sunak then he may resign.
One MP said: “I think he would know that he could not survive a confidence vote reputationally even if he wins it. I think he would probably resign.”
It did not take long for Tory recriminations over the Party’s disastrous performance to surface.
Andrew Jefferies, Tory leader of Thurrock Council in Essex which fell to Labour, blamed the Government for his defeat.
He said: “People are unhappy with the Government and cannot see what the vision is for the country.
“The Prime Minister needs to take that and give a positive message to voters.”
Tim Montgomerie, founder of the influential Conservative Home website, said of the results:
“That isn’t bad, it is catastrophic. Rishi Sunak is a nice decent man but he doesn’t do politics.”
The votes came after a YouGov poll had given the Tories an even worse vote share than when Liz Truss was Prime Minister.
According to the prediction website Electoral Calculus, it meant that the party was on course for just 32 seats in the General Election.
But as votes continue to be counted, Tory chairman Richard Holden said Mr Sunak was “here to stay leader” and would take the party to the next General Election.
But a string of groundbreaking results suggest that Labour appear to be on the verge of taking swathes of the country.
Labour said its gain in Rushmoor was “a historic result”. Rushmoor has never had a Labour majority council and has been run by the Conservatives for the last 24 years.
Labour also took back Hartlepool. In Essex, Labour also won Thurrock Council.
Pat McFadden MP, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said:
“These results show that Labour is making progress in the places needed that will decide the General Election.”
“The Tories needed to be making gains in an election year.
“Instead, their vote has collapsed in a key by-election and they are suffering losses of council seats.
“Responsibility for this sits firmly with Rishi Sunak who is being punished by voters for the Tories’ failure.
“These results are sending a clear message that people across the country are demanding change, and only the Labour Party will deliver that. It’s time for a General Election now.”
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