Rishi Sunak is 'determined and up for it' despite leadership psychodrama

Defiant Rishi Sunak insisted the party is “united” after a torrid weekend of briefings about plots to oust him.

The Prime Minister dismissed the frenzied speculation about his future as Westminster tittle tattle and insisted he is focused on the job.

Senior Tories rallied around Mr Sunak yesterday and called for an end to the “psychodrama”.

Mr Sunak shrugged off the plotting to head out on a visit to Warwickshire to speak to business owners.

He said: “I’m not interested in all Westminster politics. It doesn’t matter.

“What matters is the future of our country. And that’s what I am squarely focused on.”

Mr Sunak added: “That’s what I get up every morning, working as hard as I can, to deliver – whether it’s cutting people’s taxes, increasing the state pension… today increasing the number of apprenticeships and talking to small businesses.

“Those are the things that matter to people. And as we have seen over the last few weeks, our plan is working. Inflation is coming down, wages are growing and the economy is back to growing again.”

The Prime Minister insisted the government is delivering for voters by cutting taxes, increasing the state pension and tackling the small boats crisis.

He added: “We are absolutely united in delivering for the country on these important matters.”

Mr Sunak said the past few years were “not easy for me” and admitted it has been a “tough few years” for the country after the pandemic and fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He said: “None of that is easy – not easy for me, not easy for any of you.

“But we really have turned the corner at the start of this year. Inflation has been more than halved. Mortgage rates, energy bills falling, wages are rising, consumer confidence, business confidence increasing.”

He said the average £900 tax cut for workers after the 4p reduction in national insurance has been “significant” for workers.

“So that’s the backdrop – after a tough couple of years, we’re now pointing in the right direction and that actually gives me a lot of confidence for the future,” he added.

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt has been touted as a possible unity candidate backed by the right of the party to replace Mr Sunak.

But senior figures dismissed the claims as “total nonsense” and insisted the three largest factions on the right are not behind the suggestion.

“There is no approved candidate of the right and it certainly wouldn’t be Penny,” a source said.

Allies of Mr Sunak warned he would trigger a snap election if he faced an attempted coup.

Former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke, who has previously publicly called for the PM to go, said the move would be a “terrible idea”.

Downing Street insiders dismissed the claims and insisted the PM would only call an election at the right time for the country.

A source added: “There’s clearly a small group of ten very disaffected MPs who are constantly briefing.

“But they don’t put their names publicly to it. But most MPs are rolling up their sleeves and getting on with the job.

“We are just getting our heads down, keeping doing the right thing and ignoring the noises off.

“The PM is very determined and up for it. It’s business as usual.”

But a leading plotter said the suggestion there would be an early election had “upset” many MPs and the threat was “ludicrous”.

“I don’t think it has helped the mood,” the source said.

“The only reason we are talking about this is because he managed to lose an MP to Reform and allow a donor race row to dominate the news.

“It’s really up to them to stop having terrible weeks where he ***** everything up.”

Kemi Badenoch, who has long been tipped as a potential successor, told plotters seeking to oust the Prime Minister to “stop messing around” and end the “Westminster psychodrama”.

The Business Secretary suggested “one or two MPs” are behind the Westminster rumours and they should not be allowed to “dominate the news narrative”.

She said: “I’m sure if Penny was here, she would be distancing herself from those comments.”

Ms Mordaunt has not publicly commented on reports about a bid to elevate her to the Tory leadership, but a source close to her rejected them as “nonsense”.

Ms Badenoch said: “People need to stop messing around and get behind the Prime Minister.”

The Cabinet minister insisted she was fully behind the Prime Minister and insisted she has “shut down” rumours about her own leadership ambitions.

But “there will always be people who will speculate on your behalf”, she added.

Ms Badenoch, who ran for the Tory leadership in 2022, said: “I have made it very clear that Rishi Sunak is the person who is going to lead the country into the election.

“I support him fully.”

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace told Times Radio “it’s too late” to get rid of Mr Sunak even if colleagues want to.

He said: “There comes a moment in time in the electoral cycle where you effectively put on your best suit, you stand up and you march towards the sound of the guns and you get on with it.

“Rishi Sunak is the Prime Minister. He set out his plan. He set out his idea and vision, which I think is to effectively, quite rightly, fix the economy, get inflation down.

“If we get inflation down, we can see interest rates drop. Whether colleagues are happy with him or not, it’s too late, right. Get on with it. Stand up.

“At some stage this year, commit to engage in the general election and put our best case forward. There is no other alternative. And that’s just the reality of it. And some of those people missed the boat. Maybe it’s what they wanted, something different. But ultimately the only victor of this type of shenanigans is the Labour Party.”