Senior Conservatives are urging Rishi Sunak to use a cabinet reshuffle to restore discipline as the civil war within his party intensifies.
Mr Sunak himself was the subject of a blue-on-blue attack on Friday when a minister sensationally quit slamming the prime minister’s record and warning it would cost the party votes at the general election.
Zac Goldsmith’s resignation came just a day after eight Tory politicians were accused of a “disturbing” attack on democracy and attempts to discredit a majority-Conservative parliamentary committee investigating Partygate.
The peer, who had been a Foreign Office minister, quit a day after he was named by a report into interference with the Boris Johnson Partygate inquiry, blaming the prime minister’s “apathy” towards climate change. Sunak responded, saying Lord Goldsmith had resigned after being asked to apologise for his Partygate comments, at which point the peer accused No 10 of “misleading” briefing.
Tensions over the party’s disastrous poll ratings also bubbled over in public when one Tory MP publicly attacked his party’s chairman for an “embarrassing” and “silly” by-election stunt.
And, as Sunak faces a series of difficult by-elections triggered by Johnson allies, his key pledge to “stop the boats” was hit with a major blow as the policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was declared unlawful.
One former cabinet minister told The Independent that Sunak should use an anticipated reshuffle to restore discipline in the party. “I think he needs a reshuffle now to get some political people to the front line,” he said. “Government has become very technocratic and he doesn’t seem to get a lot of good political advice.”
Another senior Conservative described it as a “bad week for Tories”. They called for a reshuffle before the summer recess, adding: “Every ministry should have a senior minister who is the go-to person capable of continually pumping out positive stories and rebutting negative ones. Any legislation which is divisive in the party should be binned and Rishi downwards to do everything they can to unite the party.”
No 10 declined to comment.
The Tory party is still reeling from the fallout from Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP and the finding he misled parliament over Partygate.
The by-elections are due to play out against the background of continued mortgage misery for millions.
Rishi Sunak is presiding over a party at war with itself— (Reuters)
Many Tory MPs fear party in-fighting will cost them votes they can ill afford to lose, not just in the seats which go to the polls on July 20, but at the general election as well. Another senior Tory said that a reshuffle of Sunak’s top team would “be a good thing”, and urged the PM to “reward competence”.
“There is a bit of a feeling around that it is a unity cabinet, rather than a competence cabinet, designed to bring all the factions together,” he said.
A further senior Tory called on the prime minister to “demonstrate a true Conservative way forward”.
Boris Johnson loomed over the resignation of Lord Zac Goldsmith— (PA)
Sir Keir Starmer is also expected to reshuffle his top team soon, as he prepares for the next election. Those criticised in the latest Partygate report include Johnson loyalists Nadine Dorries, Lord Goldsmith and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The findings reignited the party’s civil war, as Ms Dorries doubled down telling the cross-party committee if it did not want to be seen as a kangaroo court it should stop hopping.
While on the campaign trail in Yorkshire earlier in the week dozens of Conservative activists met the Labour leader alighting from his train with a cheer of “Welcome to Selby, Sir Keir!”.
The greeting was broadcast on Twitter by the party chairman Greg Hands, who claimed : “North London Leftie lawyer and top flip-flopper Sir Keir is one of the (Conservatives) trump cards in the Selby By-Election!”.
But he was attacked by the Tory MP for Swindon, a key battleground, Justin Tomlinson. In response, he tweeted: “No this is embarrassing. Elections are won proving your worth, not silly stunts.”
