Rishi Sunak is braced for a bruising week as Tory rebels flaunted plans for a 100-day âpolicy blitzâ to secure quick wins if the local election results prove disastrous for the party.
The prime minister said on Sunday that he was not âdistractedâ by his personal ratings lingering at record lows. He refused to rule out calling a July general election amid mounting rumours that unruly MPs will attempt to oust him if the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, and the Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, are defeated on Thursday.
The defection of the former Conservative health minister Dr Dan Poulter to Labour on Saturday and the potential loss of half the partyâs councillors later this week could ignite rebellious Tories to defy Sunakâs authority and go over the line with letters of no confidence.
On Saturday night Poulter dramatically quit the Conservative party because the party is âfailingâ the NHS and the party has become a ânationalist party of the rightâ.
The part-time mental health doctor in an NHS hospital told the Observer he could no longer âlook my NHS colleagues in the eyeâ as a Conservative, noting âthe only cure [for the struggling NHS] is a Labour governmentâ.
Conservative rebels say itâs time to put an end to âbroken pledges, distant plans for change and bans they never asked forâ and instead use 100 days to prove the government is âtaking action and cares about what matters to the British peopleâ.
Their five-point plan to end the reign of âtinkering, dithering and managerialismâ includes:
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An attempt to end the junior doctors pay dispute with a 10-12% offer.
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Further cuts to legal migration numbers, with a curb on the number of foreign students staying in the UK.
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Vow to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2027.
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Introduce measures to jail prolific offenders and build rapid detention cells to increase prison capacity.
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Cut the benefits bill, with a target to reduce payments for depression and anxiety.
A Tory source said: âThese are policies that can be introduced in a few months and then go to the country for people to make a decision. Weâve got to be clear and bold in our plan, and with the right messenger, to have any chance of winning otherwise it could be two or three terms of Labour.â
An Ipsos poll on Thursday revealed Sunakâs personal satisfaction rating had fallen to -59, matching a record low for a prime minister set by Sir John Major in 1994. Only 16% of people said they were satisfied with the prime ministerâs performance and 75% said they were dissatisfied.
Penny Mordaunt, who has been perceived as preparing for a leadership contest, also trailed behind Starmer on personal ratings by 17 points â the Labour leaderâs own ratings have fallen from 29% to 25% since February. Mordauntâs allies have denied she is vying for Sunakâs position and said she is getting on with the job.
Sunak appeared irritable in an interview broadcast on Sky Newsâ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, insisting he would not âsay anything more than Iâve already saidâ about the time of an election and his âworking assumptionâ remained it will be in the second half of the year.