At first sight, former Trussite cabinet minister Simon Clarke’s call for Rishi Sunak to be replaced is utter madness. Not that Sunak is a great political asset to the Conservatives. Yes, he made a fabulous first impression on the British public as “Dishy Rishi”, the chancellor who delivered the furlough scheme and demonstrated that even Boris Johnson’s government had at least one competent administrator. But that now feels rather a long time ago. Yet to remove Sunak and impose a fourth Tory prime minister since the last election would be an obviously disastrous political move.
Most Conservative MPs know this. And even Clarke knows that most think as much. I am sure he is sincere in believing that it is worth gambling on a new leader and that almost anyone other than Sunak would do better. But the former chief secretary to the Treasury will also know that he is in a small minority in the Tory parliamentary party, just as he was in a small minority (of 11) in opposing the Rwanda Bill at its third reading, in abstaining at its second reading (37) and in opposing the Windsor Framework last year (22). He is not going to get the 53 signatures needed to trigger a confidence vote in Sunak and were he to do so, he would not get the 175 votes needed to force him out.
Content from our partners
