Plot to ditch Sunak grows as he bottles poll on May 2
PM ‘must return tainted cash’
BOTTLER Rishi Sunak has ruled out a May 2 General Election as he looks set for a wipeout.
The Prime Minister yesterday ended speculation he could send voters to the polls on the same day as council elections.
Under pressure from Labour’s Keir Starmer to “grow a backbone” and name the day, Mr Sunak said local polls were important and “there won’t be a General Election that day”.
The PM has not explicitly ruled out a spring ballot but his “working assumption” is the second half of 2024.
Mr Starmer told him the UK “wants change” after 14 years of “chaos, division and decline”.
He said: “Have the backbone to call it. Allow a General Election on May 2. We’re ready.”
RUNNING
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “It looks like we have confirmation of Sunak running scared of an election in May. He knows voters will not put up with [Tory] failures any longer.”
It came as senior MPs began “serious” talks about replacing Mr Sunak ahead of polling day as the party trails in the polls and faces a 1997-style wipeout.
A source said even some with majorities of over 20,000 now fear they could be at risk.
“This is how it felt in 1997. The mood is bad,” they added.
Former Liz Truss minister Dame Andrea Jenkyn said a new face with “more Tory policies” would win back voters.
Earlier, Tory peer Lord Stuart Rose told Mr Sunak: “The sooner we call an election the better.” The Asda chairman even suggested he could endorse Labour and said the Tories must be reinvented after 14 years in power.
But the PM insisted they were united – days after Lee Anderson defected to Reform.
RISHI Sunak has already accepted even more cash from the Tory donor he said made racist comments about ex-Labour MP Diane Abbott.
Frank Hester was the party’s biggest donor after it declared £10million of his support.
But the Electoral Commission had only reported donations accepted up to the end of 2023.
Now, it can be revealed Mr Hester has given more to the Tories since January – reportedly around £5m, a figure the Tories did not deny.
The £15m total equates to 40% of the new £35m spending limit for a general election and is almost as much as the party spent on the entire 2019 election campaign.
Mr Sunak eventually declared Mr Hester’s comments “racist and wrong” on Tuesday evening after 24 hours of dithering.
But he will not rule out taking even more cash from him and refused to commit to paying his money back.
A Tory spokesman said yesterday: “Declarable donations will be published in the usual way by the Electoral Commission.”
Mr Sunak has faced mounting pressure to return the £10m donated by the millionaire healthcare tech tycoon. In a meeting in 2019, Mr Hester said seeing Ms Abbott on TV made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she should be “shot”, according to the Guardian.
He apologised for being rude but denied his comments had anything to do with her race or her gender.
But Labour Chair Anneliese Dodds said: “Frank Hester’s remarks were clearly racist, misogynistic and have no place in our politics.
“There is absolutely no excuse for the Conservatives accepting additional money from Frank Hester. They should pay this back before it hits the coffers.
“Rishi Sunak needs to pay back every penny, cut ties with Frank Hester and apologise unequivocally to Diane Abbott.”
Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain added: “The Conservative Party must urgently confirm whether these reports are true and if so hand this tainted money back.
“People like Hester and his attitudes need to be nowhere near our politics. Conservative politicians need to learn that just because someone gives you millions of pounds that does not make the inexcusable, excusable.”
The Scottish Conservatives have also urged the party to “carefully review” Mr Hester’s donations.
A spokesman said: “These comments were racist and wrong. The Scottish Conservative Party has never accepted a donation from Frank Hester and the UK Conservative Party should carefully review the donations it has received from Hester in response to his remarks.”
There is absolutely no excuse. They should pay this back before it hits the coffers
LABOUR’S ANNELIESE DODDS ON FURTHER £5M HESTER CASH