A Cabinet minister rebuffed attempts by Tory hardliners to push Rishi Sunak to the Right ahead of the General Election.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho argued that the British public wants “exactly the plans that we are setting out,” despite polls showing the Tories trailing Labour by around 20 points.
Ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, she was defending the Government as former immigration minister Robert Jenrick followed ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman in pushing for a more hardline policy on immigration.
The two are expected to be vying to be the candidate of the Right in a Tory leadership contest if the party loses the general election, expected in the autumn.
Asked if the party should shift Right before the election, Ms Coutinho told Times Radio just hours before PMQs: “We need to do the right thing for the country which is exactly what we are doing.
“We need to be where the British public are.”
Pressed where the British public are, she added: “I think exactly the plans that we are setting out.
“They want us to be tough on immigration, they want us to be cognisant of the fact that they have had a difficult time when it comes to public finances which is why we are putting forward £900 of tax cuts, they want us to make sure that we are protecting their security which we are when it comes to defence and energy as well.”
She acknowledged the last week’s election results, which saw the Tories lose nearly 500 council seats, the West Midlands mayoral race and the Blackpool South by-election, were “disappointing” but insisted “I do think we have a positive message that we need to communicate to people.”
Mr Jenrick, who quit as immigration minister in protest at Mr Sunak’s leadership on the issue, said there needed to be “some introspection” following the “very bad results” in the elections.
The Newark MP, who has produced a paper on measures to curb net migration, added: “What I’ve tried to set out are a series of policies that could be implemented before the general election, such as what I’m saying today on legal migration, which would convince some of those Conservative voters - who are essentially on strike - to come back and support the party at the general election.
“And also to persuade some of those voters who are considering voting Reform that we do care about the issues that they do, which are principally immigration, but also on crime, on extremism and on lower taxes.”
At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Michael Gove warned Right-wingers against “comfort eating” by pursuing hardline policies that “make us feel good about ourselves”.
The Times reported that he told ministers: “As Kate Moss once said ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt lopped 2p off National Insurance in both the Budget and the Autumn Statement, and once the stealth tax threshold freezes are taken into account, London households’ disposable income will on average go up by £110 in 2024/25, according to House of Commons Library figures.
But it will then fall by £10 the following year, by £110 in 2026/27 and £230 in 2027/28, as the Chancellor’s stealth taxes bite deeper.
