The transport secretary insists Rishi Sunak will lead the Conservatives into the next general election amid reports of a plot to overthrow the prime minister.
Mark Harper has dismissed speculation that some Tory rebels want Commons leader Penny Mordaunt to replace the prime minister.
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Asked at Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips If Mr Sunak will remain leader at the next election, Mr Harper said: “Yes, he will.
“He will lead us into the election and he will make it very clear that we are a government with a plan.”
Asked about rumors about Ms Mordaunt, he said his colleagues should focus on what was “good for the country”.
“This is also the approach taken by the prime minister,” he added.
“He’s focused on making the right decisions, even if they’re not necessarily popular in the short term. … I’m confident those decisions will pay off.”
Replacing Sunak will involve appointing the country’s sixth prime minister since the 2010 election and the third who will not participate in the vote.
Ms Mordaunt herself dismissed speculation that she was involved in a plot to become the next Tory leader, telling Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby the idea was “nonsense” and “the public was uncomfortable with these stories.” Quite tired.”
Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt
One of her supporters also called the reports “fabricated briefings.”
There has long been speculation about Sunak’s stance, with the Conservatives trailing Labor by around 20 points in opinion polls and many senior MPs at risk of losing their seats.
Reports in the Mail and Telegraph over the weekend suggested the party’s right-wing MPs met with moderates this week to discuss uniting support for Ms Mordaunt if the prime minister faced a vote of no confidence.
It comes after a difficult fortnight for Mr Sunak, who was reportedly criticized for his handling of racist comments. provided by major political party donors, and Lee Anderson’s defection – Mr Sunak promoted him to deputy chair of the Conservative – right-wing populist Reform UK party.
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Some Conservatives are also angry at the lack of giveaways Jeremy Hunt’s budgetsaid he should cut income tax rather than National Insurance.
May election rumors ‘nonsense’
Shadow treasurer Jonathan Ashworth said Sunak could personally quell rumors of a leadership change if he fixed a date for the general election.
He told Sky News: “There were Conservative MPs in the newspapers today saying Rishi Sunak couldn’t go on.
“This is no longer in the national interest. It is irresponsible. We need stability in this country.”
“He can stabilize the situation by making phone calls to set a date for the general election. Otherwise, I fear we could have a Conservative leadership election before the general election.”
The latest date for the next election is January 2025, although Mr Sunak said his “working assumption” was that he would hold one in the second half of this year.
Labor pulls off ‘Chicken Sunak’ stunt
Read more from Sky News:
Anderson’s defection and Abbott’s racial row show politics is toxic
Conservative MPs nervous
Labor MP calls PM a ‘chicken’ Ruling out the possibility of holding an election on May 2to coincide with local elections.
Some experts speculate Mr Sunak may move ahead of schedule to avoid upending his plans, reaping any benefits from the spring budget and avoiding an increase in Channel crossings over the summer.
However, Mr Harper said reports of a possible snap election in May were “nonsense”.
“The Prime Minister made it clear at the beginning of the year that his working assumption was that the election would be held by the end of the year.
“So, frankly, all this bubble talk we had about the May election was nonsense, and he made that clear at the beginning of the year.”
UK PM under criticism but many Conservatives will shy away from more chaos
The Lib Dems have chosen to hold their spring conference at York’s Barbican Theatre, named after the fortified outpost of the city’s medieval city walls.
But Rishi Sunak has reason to feel surrounded and attacked from all sides.
Sir Ed Davey’s party is eyeing high-profile figures in the general election, targeting Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt and upgrading Secretary of State Michael Gove’s seats.
But a dozen miles south from York there was evidence of another line of attack.
The Selby and Anstey constituency fell to Labor in a by-election last July, the first in a series of sweeping Conservative victories for Sir Keir Starmer.
If that wasn’t enough, there were British reformist rebels to contend with.
The party has just welcomed defector Lee Anderson and vowed to gain a foothold across the country, potentially splitting the Conservative vote in several key constituencies.
All of this created unease within the ranks.
One former cabinet minister said reports of a plot to overthrow the prime minister were exaggerated, but added that “the conversation started with talking about the desperate state of the party and then quickly turned to the leadership and why it was not delivering on its promises”.
Still, talk is not the same thing as action, and many Conservatives remain tired of stirring up more chaos and giving their opponents more political ammunition.
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