Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Home Secretary James Cleverly has warned Conservative MPs considering a challenge to Rishi Sunak after next week’s local elections that an attempted coup would be a “disastrous idea”.
Cleverly said on Thursday that Tory MPs who were planning a move against Sunak if their party suffered heavy defeats in local and mayoral elections on May 2 had no plan other than hoping a new leader would sort things out. “accidentally better.”
“If you jump out of a plane, please make sure you have a parachute before you get off the plane,” he said at a press lunch in Westminster. “Don’t say you’ll make it on the way down.
“I think the people who think that another leadership race – however shortened it may be – leading up to the election is anything but a disastrous idea. . . I don’t understand it,” he added.
52 Conservative MPs would have to submit a letter of no confidence against Sunak to trigger a leadership contest. A majority of Tory MPs think such an idea is ridiculous, but do not rule out the possibility that it could happen.
“Rishi would win a confidence vote but it would clearly be damaging,” said a former cabinet minister.
Rumors are rife in Westminster that Sunak may decide to sidestep a possible leadership challenge by announcing the upcoming general election date, thereby forcing his party’s hand.
Sunak’s allies said the rumors were “complete nonsense” and were being spread by Labor to cause mischief. They said the prime minister was still planning elections in the fall.
He cleverly urged Tory MPs not to “fuel the psychodrama”.
“We should have the discipline to remain focused on what we have achieved in government and what we plan to do next,” he said.
Cleverly said Sunak was “an incredibly hard-working person” who had inherited a “really difficult position” after the pandemic, rise in inflation and the chaos of Liz Truss’ short time in office.
In a tongue-in-cheek speech, Cleverly claimed he was replaced as foreign secretary by David Cameron last November because of “diversity issues” at the top of David Cameron’s cabinet. “There were no old Etonians,” he said.
Cleverly said Sunak looked him in the eyes when he broke the news of his move from the Foreign Office to the Home Office. “He had to rely on his wallet for that,” he joked.
Sunak’s short stature and wealth are two of Labor’s favorite points of attack against the prime minister.