Embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has received a record low rating from Tory members because he is “not a real conservative”, a political opponent has claimed.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice has seen his party rise in the polls to double digits at the end of the year, taking votes off the Conservatives from disillusioned Tory voters.
But after the latest ConservativeHome poll of Tory members ranking Cabinet ministers put the Prime Minister at the bottom, Mr Tice insisted it was because the Prime Minister and other senior figures in his government are too Left-wing.
He said: “In that whole list, only two are real conservatives: Kemi Badenoch and Esther McVey. The rest are social democrats.”
He pointed out that Ms Badenoch, the Business and Trade Secretary, came top with 63.9 percent and Ms McVey, a new addition as “common sense” minister, came fourth with 30.8 percent.
In comparison, Mr Sunak trailed behind with -26.5 percent – the lowest of all the Cabinet.
The end of year edition of the monthly survey by ConservativeHome comes at a sensitive moment for the Prime Minister.
With speculation that Nigel Farage could be making a comeback to politics, Tory MPs are afraid that more of their voters will abandon them for Reform UK.
Additionally, Mr Sunak has only just survived a potential rebellion over his Rwanda Bill to deport illegal migrants to East Africa. The second reading passed when MPs on the Right decided to abstain.
However, there is a threat that they will vote it down at a later stage in the new year.
Noticeably, the ConservativeHome survey showed that Home Secretary James Cleverly, responsible for delivering that Bill, only has a rating of 10.3 percent, while illegal immigration minister Michael Tomlinson is down on -27.3 percent.
Tory MPs in five factions on the Right – dubbed the Five Families – are considering whether to make a push to remove the Prime Minister and try to install a new leader in 2024, with an election fast approaching and polls still putting Labour more than 20 points ahead.
However, it is understood that if Mr Sunak can get the Rwanda Bill to pass, it would probably kill off any attempt to remove him.
