Senior UK Conservative Simon Clarke tells party to ditch PM Rishi Sunak or face ‘annihilation’
- The lawmaker warned of a ‘massacre’ in the coming election if there is no leadership change, as the Tories trail Labour in opinion polls.
- Others in the party say it is not the time for yet another leadership contest after the Conservatives had ousted three prime ministers in less than five years
Senior British Conservative lawmaker Simon Clarke called on Tuesday for a change of prime minister, saying Rishi Sunak was leading the governing party into an election later this year “where we will be massacred”.
Since Sunak pushed through his Rwanda immigration plan last week, ignoring the demands of several in his party’s right wing to toughen it, some have been increasingly vocal in their criticism of the British leader, fearing he has little chance of reducing the opposition Labour Party’s lead before the election.
But Clarke’s words, while welcomed by a few, were sharply criticised by some on the right wing, who said it was not the time for yet another leadership contest after the Conservatives had ousted three prime ministers in less than five years.
Sunak, in power since 2022, has called on the party to unite before the election, which he expects to come in the second half of the year, saying its deep divisions and years of infighting are doing little for its fortunes in the opinion polls.
In a column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Clarke did little to ease those divisions by calling on other Conservative lawmakers to oust Sunak: “Now is not the time to despair. It is the time to act.”