Strife and division won’t win election

LOOKING at the latest polling data, it’s hardly surprising Tory backbenchers are in rebellious mood.

A seat-by-seat study suggests up to 200 could be out on their ear, as Sir Keir Starmer is swept to power on a record landslide.

So, with unemployment staring them in the face, they are scrambling round for anything which might mitigate the predicted scale of the disaster.

For some, thoughts immediately turn to dropping the pilot. They have understandably been disappointed with Rishi Sunak’s failure, so far, to improve the party’s fortunes.

Ditch him now, their theory goes, and there’s still time to turn things around. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt is being touted as a compromise candidate with the charisma to kick-start a fightback.

But would a palace coup change things for the better? Would having a fourth leader in two years suggest a party comfortable in its own skin – or just a fractious rabble?

There are so many splinter groups in the party now it’s hard to keep up. New conservatives, one-nation conservatives, red wall, blue collar, spartans, herbivores, and various ‘research’ groups.

They speak with so many tongues, it’s the political equivalent of the Tower of Babel.

Whether Mr Sunak can unite them in the next eight months remains to be seen. He’ll try to get back on the front foot this week trumpeting good news on the economy and forward movement on the Rwanda plan.

The local elections will be the next big hurdle. A Tory wipeout would inevitably strengthen calls for a change. But the insurgents should be ever mindful of psephology’s first rule – disloyalty and division do not win elections.